RALLY
CHARGE

MOBILE APP

ABOUT PROJECT

About company:

Rally Charge is a rapid charging network that enables customers to recharge for FREE in their favorite places, and provide them the most relevant content and quickly facilitating digital transactions. It also enables them to customize their private chargers to make their life simpler.

OUR WORK

Android

Backend

Graphic design

iOS App

1. PROCESS

Rally Charge is an app that can work in two ways. For business, it can attract clients by offering free charging devices for the effort of signing into the app. You can customise the advertising campaign that will be shown on the mobile while charging. For individual clients, they can customize their charger to work in a simple ITTT (If This Than That) manner. Rally chargers work with simple USB plug, so they are portable, and can be used anywhere.

The app uses Android Host-Accessory feature that allows to communicate with a custom hardware device.

Ola, Android Developer

“The most interesting thing about working on Rally Charge app was the integration with the custom charger. It uses Android Host-Accessory feature for communication with the hardware device, and gives great opportunities for future development and potential usages.”

2. MOBILE APP

IOS APP:

iOS ecosystem is known for its power efficiency and battery lifetime optimizations that limits third-party work when the app is not in the foreground. When using external accessory developer receives a great power of working in a background, but it also comes with great responsibility to not abuse user’s trust and drain his/her battery. Rally Charge iOS app has a privilege to operate without any limitations but it still meets the highest resource efficiency standards in order to deliver best user experience in all possible areas.

Campaigns

The business has the ability to assign a charger to a specific custom advertising campaign, and show the advertisements on the user’s phone while charging.

Charging points

Collect points for each charging session. Later, you can exchange them for some awesome gifts.

MAP

Easily find charging points using a built-in map.

ITTT

Customize your private charger to work in a simple If This Than That manner i.e. switch your phone into silent mode, or integrate it with your IoT devices.

3. ADMIN PANEL

Custom crafted admin panel allows user to manage all collected data in one place. From statistics to single customer view, we provide clear view to what happen in application. Through simple email and sms templates, you can create your own marketing campaigns. All connected to native mobile applications out of the box.

4. APP REDESIGN

Consistent Visual Communication

This project belongs to a group of apps provided by Rally which works with rally charger.

Our main goal was to make visual communication very clear and consistent, even between the apps from the group. During the redesign process, to emphasize that all those apps belong to one brand, we created style guidelines, that can be also applied in the next apps. We share essentials elements between apps, starting with icons, buttons and form looks, typography and other basic elements. By using familiar patterns we allow users to learn faster how to use the app.

For Rally charge app we have used dark background colors and light texts. The main color is vivid turquoise, which makes CTA elements standing out from the layout. We stay with a minimalist, clear design based on delicate lettering and lined up icons.

5. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS

Railwaymen has expertise in a deployment of IoT Technology, so building hardware integrated applications aren’t something new for us. We have been a partner for Rally from the beginning for software development. We developed Rally’s mobile apps, APIs, SDK and backend, as well as administration dashboard.

BACKED BY:

Testimonial:

“Through Railwaymen’s attentive involvement from scoping to prototyping, the fully functional IoT solution launched successfully on the App Store. The team’s rapid turnaround time, clear communication, and accurate estimates continue to support an evolving business vision.”

Cory Azzalino,

CEO, Rally Charge

Check interview with Cory and review

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SAFE
DRIVING

APP POWERED BY

RALLY

MOBILE APP

ABOUT PROJECT

Safe Driving is the first charging cable that prevents drivers from texting or using social media to keep you and your family safe. The mission is to reduce the 3,500 deaths and 400,000 accidents caused by distracted driving each year.

OUR WORK

Android

Backend

UX/UI

QA

1. PROCESS

Safe Driving is an app designed for people, who want to increase their safety when driving by decreasing the number of distractors. When you connect the safety charger, your phone switches info ‘safety mode’ that doesn’t allow you to use the apps that aren’t whitelisted (i.e. SMS, Internet browser or social media). In this way, it restricts the sources of potential distraction, and lowers the possibility of car accidents.

The app uses Android Host-Accessory feature. It is integrated with Twilio to provide SMS information about charging sessions.

Ola, Android Developer

“The most interesting thing about working on Safe Driving app was the integration with the custom charger. It uses Android Host-Accessory feature for communication with the hardware device, and gives great opportunities for future development and potential usages.”

Working with hardware

Together with the client, we worked on the best calibration of the product. For this purpose, we also collaborated with an external company, based in New York, which was responsible for creating hardware in the form of a charger. During the whole project, we had the opportunity to face many IoT challenges. Our team also considered different solutions and implemented the tool to both B2B and B2C customers.

2. FEATURES

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APPS WHITELIST

Reduce distraction by allowing only apps that are whitelisted. All other apps are blocked to keep you focused on driving.

Autorespond

Configure the app to auto respond your text messages while you’re driving.

Charging points

Gain points for charging sessions, and exchange them for great rewards.

Notifications

The app can also be a great help for the parents, who want to be sure that their children are not using their phones while driving a car. A parent can configure the charger for a child, and receive SMS when the charging session is started or ended.

Bartek, QA

“While testing Safe Driving, I focused on the performance of an app on devices with a different screen diagonal and various versions of Android. The main feature was associated with the “custom charger”. Do not forget about sms notifications that are very important part of this project. I think that thanks to this, parents will be more calm about their children who are traveling in their car.”

3. APP DESIGN

We have prepared a clean, clear design based on interesting delicate lettering, simple expressive colors and lined up icons that together create a minimalist and friendly-user impression.

QuickSand Light Font

ICONS & COLORS:

We have used limited color pallets to keep the app minimalist. The main color – vivid turquoise makes the application lightness. This color served as the basis for the icon design, which consists of symbols describing the operation of the app.

#575757

#9DE6E7

#2DCCCD

4. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS

According to statistics: car crashes are the #1 killer of teens in the USA and 16-19-year olds are three times more likely to be in a fatal car crash. This is why the app was born. Safety Charger is the first charging cable that prevents drivers from texting or using social media to keep you and your family safe. The application is compatible with the charger – The Safety Charger.

BACKED BY:

Testimonial:

“Railwaymen far exceeded our expectations, and working with them was a fantastic experience. Not only did they create a website for us that is both aesthetically and functionally impressive, but they were also very patient, responsive, and adaptable. We feel so fortunate to have found such a skilled, knowledgeable team, and we would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a developer with technical know-how, a keen eye for design, and excellent project management and communication skills.”

Cory Azzalino,

CEO, Rally Charge

Check interview with Cory and review

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MySoberRoommate

mobile app

web app

ABOUT PROJECT

The only app that lets you search, match and message with sober roommates.

About company:

MySoberRoommate was created to help people. One of the founders is a therapist working in addiction recovery, watched many of his clients grow frustrated trying to find sober roommates. They couldn’t find a roommate matching portal for people committed to living a clean lifestyle that also protected their personal information. That is why MySoberRoommate was born.

OUR WORK

Frontend

Backend

UX/UI

QA

iOS App

1. PROCESS

MySoberRoommate is roommate matching app for people who are in addiction recovery or have chosen to live clean for other reasons. It has implemented an advanced search engine allowing to search for a sober roommate using different criteria. The members of the platform are both the people who are looking for a room and who have room to fill. The service gives them a possibility to send messages to each other and add to favorites interesting people. MySoberRoommate is one of a kind service for people committed to living a clean lifestyle that also protected their personal information.

Agata, Project Manager

“Our cooperation with Client was very smooth. Emily and Jesse, MySoberRoommmate owners, were very engaged in the whole process of app development. They responded to our questions very quickly and provided exhaustive information. They are passionate about what they are doing, well-organized professionals and they knew what they wanted. These made our cooperation a great experience. It was a pleasure to be a part of this enterprise.”

2. WEB APP

WEB APP

We completed Ruby on Rails website that includes searching and messaging functions.

Searching

There are advanced matching algorithms and quick search feature. You can choose “I need a room” or “I have a room to fill”, share information about yourself. Also, you can choose a state and region in the United States. Moreover there is an opportunity to filter by available features like age, smoker/nonsmoker, also you can add info if you have a pet and how much money you want to spend per month.

Connecting

You can easily contact with potential likeminded roommates. You can add your contacts to Favorites, so it’s much more easy to connect with them.

Messages

There is an option to message with potential roommates for as long as you want, as often as you want, for free. You can instantly see photos, read profiles and message with potential roommates who match your selected criteria.

3. MOBILE APP

Tomasz, Senior RoR Developer

“In addition to the web version, I created the API of the mobile version, which allows users to use MySoberRommate on mobile devices. Collaboration with the iOS team ran smoothly and seamlessly, resulting in a 100% functional application. They provided a consistent source of expertise and guidance to the whole team.”

ios app

We built a complementing iOS app.

3. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS

Thanks to MySoberRoommate platform people in recovery can more easily connect with sober roommates, and can potentially help save people’s lives. MySoberRommate has been featured in many articles, magazines and blogs associated with health and wellness.

Testimonial:

Emily Churg,

CFO, MySoberRoommate

Check interview with Emily and review

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Akuarella

An application that allows to effectively capture a child’s smile in photos

MOBILE APP

ABOUT PROJECT

Akuarella helps parents spontaneously capture the smiles and joy of babies and children. This selfie application is targeted for parents who want to take the perfect picture of their children with a natural smile with ease, without them even knowing.

OUR WORK

Backend

Graphic design

Android

iOS App

1. PROCESS

WORKING WITH VIDEO

The application uses videos that the parents think are the most appealing to their children as a persuader to catch the children’s attention (can choose from different platforms: cellphone library, Vimeo or native Akuarella Video. iPad Version supports YouTube).

Sylwia, UX / Graphic Designer

“The most interesting task in this project was to prepare a cartoon illustration of a teddy bear with a magical camera that mesmerizes children to make a cool photo. Although the app is used by adults, we wanted to keep the atmosphere for kids fun. In the illustration, I used the colors of the application – the tone of pink and blue. Orange was a complementary color for the blue background to get attention to the teddy bear, which is the main figure. The teddy bear has been used in applications and marketing materials.”

PHOTO EDITING

The application includes a set of frames and stickers that can be used to decorate photos. We tried to match them on different occasions (e.g Birthdays or Christmas) and encouraged them to create. We have also added stickers for birthdays, balloons with inscriptions, balloons, flowers, bows and drawing animals.

When you finished editing the picture, you can share it on different social media platforms and on all the applications that you have installed on your smartphone.

ICON & COLORS

The main colors of the application were chosen based on the title and theme of the application. To emphasize the creative atmosphere of the application, we put in the background the design of watercolor paints, and the main colors used to associate us with young children pink and blue. We chose bright shades that give a cheerful atmosphere of fun.

#225989

#1FAAFF

#93EEFF

#FABAEE

#575757

3. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS

Spending time with a child is very important to every parent. Akuarella was created as a selfie application. Thanks to integration you can share the beautiful moments of your kid with friends and family, by sending them photos via social media. Capture the moment!

Application was specially designed for famous Puerto Rican actress Adamari López and her daughter Alaïa. Profits from app ads will be donated for Hospital.

All the funds will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Tennessee, USA.

Check video about Akuarella:

Testimonial:

“Railwaymen not only executed professionally but also delivered in a very timely matter, as promised. Furthermore the founders of Railwaymen where always there when I needed them. They become your extended family and treat your project as if it was of their own.”

Israel Berrios,

Founder, Akuarella

Check interview with Israel and review

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James Marketing Amplifier App

Marketing Automation Web App Dedicated to Small Law companies

WEB APP

By automating existing company processes, the client can serve 10 times more customers than before with the same amount of staff.

ABOUT PROJECT

About company:
James Marketing Amplifier is a marketing automation web app dedicated to small law firms. The purpose is to help them improve their marketing to obtain more and better clients. James Marketing Amplifier offers a high-value law content which can be sent to segmented clients through email campaigns. With this online tool, law firms receive more signups from their website, acquire customers through referrals, grow and improve educational content on their blogs.

OUR WORK

Project Management

Frontend

Backend

UX/UI

QA

1. PROCESS

James Publishing is a mature company that has been publishing content for lawyers since 1981. Jim Pawell, Co-Founder of James Publishing, found us through recommendation. We turned his raw idea into a clickable prototype that obtained customer feedback. The next step was to build functioning software. The purpose was to build a totally new type of product for which there are no models in any industry or profession.

This project involved 7 people: Project Manager, UX/UI Designer, Quality Assurance Specialist, two Front-end Developers and two RoR Developers. We handled 100% of the design and development. Although the pandemic of COVID-19 appeared during the process of implementation, our cooperation went perfectly.

Bartosz, Project Manager

“Big differences in time zones can always be a struggle for project management, especially in agile workflow, where changes can happen very rapidly. In order to stay on top of things, we have held regular meetings with James Marketing Amplifier staff to discuss any upcoming tasks and current customer feedback. This, combined with our project management tools, meant that over 10 hour time difference became a non-issue in our work.”

2. THE FEATURES

BRANDED DOCUMENTS

James Marketing Amplifier provides high-value legal content through personalized files. Each document is branded with subscribers’ data and logos to positively impact brand image.

Integration with the InDesign server allows us to take subscriber data and automatically apply it to great content prepared by the JMA team. This custom feature meant big savings for James Marketing Amplifier’s staff, as this time-consuming process no longer had to be done manually. On the other hand, customers could receive their branded files within moments of registration.

By applying automation to the creation of branded documents, it was possible to reduce the time required for this task and delegate staff resources to perform new activities that previously lacked capacity. In this way, JMA employees were able to undertake the creation of customized videos for each client. At the same time, the automation of document branding has meant that James Marketing Amplifier now serves 10 times more clients than before.

Piotr, Ruby on Rails Developer

“A good way of learning new things is to work on a real project with real problems. The best way to solve the problem is to dive deep into the task and search for the right solution. But the best and the funniest things happen when you are trying to implement functionality that no-one did before, and the tool you need to use hasn’t got any useful documentation. But after all, you will be proud of yourself that you did it, while the client will be happy to have something unique. In short, this is how we implemented the branded documents feature for JMA.”

YOUR LIBRARY

Library section allows JMA managers to properly sort and categorize the files depending on type, topic or length and assign it to proper subscribers. Status of each file can be easily reviewed, so updating a large number of files or checking for custom document versions can be done in just a few steps.

Additionally, library templates allow for a quick and automated way of assigning content to subscribers.

End result? Easy access to varied law documents for the subscribers, which can later be sent to their selected contacts.

CLIENT LIFECYCLE

Another way of reaching customers for subscribers is using campaigns curated by JMA staff. Responsive board allows for segmenting contacts into groups, so only the appropriate content is being sent. Thanks to robust Drip integration subscribers can be sure that the content will reach correct people. Segmentation of the clients helps to engage them effectively by matching relevant content. The automatic email system will contact the person after adding a name and email address.

Wioleta, Front-end Developer

“For the purpose of this project, I implemented innovative solutions designed by our UX/UI Designer. User-friendly design is necessary to meet the goals of the JMA application. I developed a scalable template using CSS3, HTML5, Java Script and one of its frameworks React.js. Thanks to this project, I learned how to work in an evolving environment. I haven’t had the opportunity to work on marketing automation products before, and I found this project very enjoyable.”

USER & ADMIN PANEL

Through the User Panel (also called Customer Portal), subscribers can view available content documents and control the sending of individual emails. Managers with proper permissions can add new customers, and by using the drag & drop method, determine in which column a particular client should be located.

James Marketing Amplifier Managers can add new subscribers and upload new files directly to the library. The Admin Panel gives them full control of uploaded content materials. They are able to add, edit, and assign documents to subscribers.

When adding new contacts for their subscribers, JMA staff can use a bulk import tool which allows for importing large amounts of data into the system. Thanks to intuitive validation and editing options, it’s easy to find any mistakes in imported data and quickly fix them – even when working with thousands of records.

Milena, QA Team Lead

“I haven’t got an opportunity to use marketing automation tools before. Testing was a pretty challenging task, especially checking data correctness on admin’s & subscriber’s portal and integration with external applications. The most important case was to create solid documentation and to keep it in the test management app – Xray.”

STATISTICS

Thanks to the statistics in the Admin Panel, Managers can analyze the efficiency of the application and monitor user activity. Through the Dashboard, they can view numbers of logins, length of sessions, or the ratio of total emails sent to documents opened. Data can be sorted by specializations, managers or selected time ranges, and exported to the CSV file which allows for even more in depth analysis.

Kazimierz, Ruby on Rails Developer

“As a new member of the team, it was a challenge to join the ongoing project. However, thanks to good communication and experience in cooperation, I managed to create a comprehensive system for collecting statistics on the use of all the most important functions of our application. This is my first major feature with React and I am glad that the data is viewed smoothly and conveniently, and that our client can make key decisions based on them.”

CONVENTION SERVER

Convention server is a feature in the form of an add-on to legal websites that enables the creation of special libraries with branded company materials for visitors to download. This feature can be personalized according to the individual needs of JMA’s clients. In addition, the convention server provides an alternative distribution channel for documentation generated on our client’s side.

3. UX / UI DESIGN

JR came to us with the idea for the digitalization of their processes. They also wanted to have the possibility to present their work efforts to the clients. The most challenging was to create the product and design the digital tool for the customers while the concept constantly evolved.

We analyzed many tools and possibilities for modeling the customers and leads service. As a result, we’ve built the MVP which main goal was to engage JMA customers into leading process and streamline onboarding and communication.

Sylwia, UX/UI Team Lead

“We’ve developed a prototype of the product that has been tested by James Referral and its clients before the final implementation. Then we gained valuable feedback, and thanks to that, we were able to adapt the portal to the needs and skills of users.”

4. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS & FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Jim Pawell, Co-Founder of James Publishing gave us an excellent review with 5 stars on Clutch. The new software appeared as a lifesaver for the company during the COVID lockdown. It has provided work for the team that they can do from home. The number of new customers rapidly grows. The company has transformed from being a stodgy old book publisher to an innovative software publisher with a product unlike any other.

The client is extremely happy with the relationship, and we are going to develop the next versions of the software that will significantly extend the final product.

Testimonial:

“After speaking with several development agencies, we retained Railwaymen to turn our raw idea into first a clickable prototype for which we could obtain customer feedback, and second, into functioning software. They handled 100% of the design and development.

Railwaymen is a first class, high-quality operation which charges reasonable rates and does great work. We are extremely happy with the relationship, and plan to stay with Railwaymen through future versions of the software. Creative design and problem-solving have had the biggest impact on my impression. But the unwavering support and patience of their team is a close second.”

Jim Pawell,

Co-Founder of Marketing Amplifier

Check interview with Jim and review

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LAUNCHMATIC

An Advanced Screenshots Generating Online Web Tool

WEB APP

ABOUT PROJECT

About company:

LaunchMatic is a project started by Tim Jones that empowers mobile app developers and marketers to generate app screenshots – for iOS & Android, instantly and without a designer.

Tim worked as the Product Growth Manager for Keepsafe Photo Vault, where he needed to create 1600 app screenshots for 5 different devices and 35 languages. Luckily, he had the whole talented UX Design team at his disposal. But not everyone has got those kinds of resources. That’s why he decided to create LaunchMatic, to automate app screenshot design and localization!

What challenges does the app help to solve?
App Screenshots are very important to promote apps yet not everyone can afford a UX Designer (or a team) who will create, adjust to the specific store and translate them on a daily basis. With the help of Launchmatic, you or your teammates can do that by yourselves, without any graphic design skills required!

OUR WORK

Project Management

Backend

QA

1. PROCESS

We were chosen by Tim to create Launchmatic because he already did one project with us 7 years ago and was satisfied with the result. Building mutual trust between the client and a software house is hard – there are no shortcuts here, you need to give your absolute best both in terms of quality and communication. Luckily, we seem to know how to do it right – so we were very excited to work with Tim again!

Tim Jones, CEO Launchmatic

“I’ve not only cooperated with Railwaymen before, but we have a long 7-year relationship and I have used them at prior companies. They are a fantastic option for any stage of your company. I’ve used them to built entire products, to take slack off my full-time engineers, and to work on other side-projects that aren’t assigned priority within the team. They are great with web and native apps.”

We’ve started the development part of the Launchmatic App in January 2020. There was an existing version of the software already built by another app developer, but in the end – Tim wasn’t satisfied with the result. So as we looked at the code we decided – it’s time to rewrite!

When it comes to our team structure – we’ve been very flexible throughout the whole time. The core team was 3 people: 1 x Backend Developer & Team Leader, 1 x Project Manager, and 1 x Quality Assurance Specialist. When there was a need, additional developers were added to the team and it was discussed prior with Tim each time.

Michał, Project Manager

“Despite the time differences between California and Poland, we were able to meet and collaborate on sprint tasks and backlog grooming. Even though we encountered some challenges we were able to repay our technical debts thanks to the Agile approach. It is also worth noting that communication with the Client was exceptional – there was no topic too difficult to discuss.”

2. THE FEATURES

SCREENSHOTS DESIGNER

This web application core is an intuitive and advanced screenshots generator. As a Launchmatic user, you can pick from a selection of ready-made app screenshot designs created and tested by App Store Optimization experts and UI designers. Each of the templates available in the app is 100% customizable! Without any UX or technical knowledge, you can add your own text, alter the background, and more.

Paweł, QA Specialist

“When you look at the Launchmatic, at the first sight, you might think that it is a pretty simple application. Yet when it comes to Quality Assurance – it is definitely not! With each sprint, we add new features to it, so testing the app as a whole becomes challenging.

Another thing is, that this app has got a majority of graphic elements. So testing them is entirely different in comparison to, for example, accounting apps. The errors are mostly connected with those graphics missing or not rendering right. Yet thanks to taking deep care of the performance of our tests, we managed to launch the app where everything works just as it is supposed to!”

AUTOMATIC IOS & ANDROID DEVICES SCREENSHOTS ADJUSTING

What Tim struggled with in his prior job, was the need to create a separate screenshot for each iOS and Android device. This takes hours of work and requires a deep, deep focus from a UX Designer side. Thanks to Launchmatic, you design your screen once, and the app automatically adjusts it to all devices, which saves you tons of work!

CAPTIONS TRANSLATOR

What is innovative in Launchmatic, that it has got a Google Translator integration. Thanks to it, you no longer have to translate each of your screenshots, hiring dedicated people with language skills, and pay them extra to do it. You create different language versions of your screenshot with a click of a button or manually input your translations for easy export yourself. This helps a lot when you plan to go with your app internationally and need different marketing materials for that!

Adam, Ruby on Rails Developer & Team Leader

“One of the biggest challenges was to write Screenshots Generation mechanisms (scripts) to be easily extendable and independent from the user environment/browser. Moreover, the whole process was meant to be smooth and non-blocking for the user, where underhood thousands of images are fetched, generated and packed to archives. Utilizing resources in a way that prevents browser crashes, but also making the exporting process as fast as possible – that was our main goal with this functionality, and we’ve achieved it with success!”

3. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS & FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Our plans to develop Launchmatic are ambitious. From the very beginning, we’ve built this app to make it easily expandable in the future. What at the beginning looked like a simple screenshots generator, grows bigger with each sprint to an advanced graphic design & marketing tool. The whole app development process was based on the feedback that Tim got from his early users and we still plan to add new features, whenever they will require them.

We’re open to creating an app, waiting for our client to test it on the market, and then coming back to the development after time. We care about your success so we will always be glad to welcome you back! Our 5 stars on Clutch that we’ve received from Tim shows clearly that we’re a good long-term partner – no matter when it comes to one project or several different ones!

Testimonial:

“Unless you are a highly technical product manager I suggest getting a PM. Not only will they help manage your engineers while you’re asleep (granted you live in the West) but they provide a much needed buffer for some of the less technical clients to ask questions to. Also much easier to plan meetings and agendas with them as they will be much more communicative.

Railwaymen goes above and beyond to provide high-quality results at reasonable rates. The team is hard-working and organized, establishing a smooth workflow. They’ve quite literally built everything from the ground up and there wouldn’t be a product without them!”

Tim Jones,

Position, Company

Check interview with Tim and review

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Blinda

Dating app where best friends play a big part in arranging matches

MOBILE APP

ABOUT PROJECT

About the company:

Fourth Street Connections, Inc is the parent company of the dating app Blinda. The company was founded in 2019 in the United States and its owners have had ambitious plans to develop its flagship product since its creation. To this aim, they decided to get involved in the digital world and release a revolutionary dating app that engages not only daters but also their friends.

Blinda’s mission is to redefine blind dating with a unique app. This involves close friends of the dates who make up the matchmaking community. As a result, couples are matched based on mutual referrals and areas of interest. No more failed dates resulting from a bad match.

OUR WORK

iOS app

Android

Frontend

Backend

QA

UX & UI

PURPOSE OF COOPERATION

Development of a dating app that will stand out from the available tools with its functionalities.

THE CHALLENGE

Creating a dating community that engages not only daters, but also their friends and family. Providing them the right tools to get to know each other and communicate.

1. PROCESS

INITIAL MEETINGS

Railwaymen's work on Blinda began in early 2020 when we were approached by Steven Irvin with an idea for his app. After our client ended their relationship with another development company, he hired us to handle the work. All activities were preceded by a series of meetings and discussions, during which we discussed the mock-ups, specifications, and determined the full scope of the project.

COMMUNICATION & WORKFLOW

Together with the client we developed an effective communication system. We communicated regularly with each other, reporting on the progress at various stages of work on the application. There were 7 people involved in the project. Among them were a Project Manager, an UX/UI Designer, 2 Front-End Mobile Engineers, 2 Back-End Engineers and a QA Engineer.

Bartosz, Project Manager

Blind’a was a really interesting project. Even though dating apps might seem like an area where most concepts have been already explored, Steven was able to come up with a novel concept for connecting people. This resulted in a challenging task for a team – which in the end we were able to overcome and release the app.

2. THE FEATURES

PROFILE TEMPLATES

One of the most important features is the option to create profiles. Every Blinda (dater) has the possibility to complete own profile with the most important information based on available templates or by creating it from scratch. Also, people in the role of Seekers (matchmakers) can create profiles of their Blindas. The final verdict on the appearance of profiles rests with the Blindas, who decide whether the created profiles are accepted by their friends.

Michał, Senior React Developer

“As a React Developer, I had an opportunity to work with a very complex project from the mobile perspective where we had to correctly segment Blind’a profile and Seeker and allow users to maneuver between them with ease. The whole app is able to change its life cycle depending on the one switch which was a real challenge. As a developer, I had an occasion to show and develop my architecture design and programming skills.”

ADMIN PANEL

The Admin Panel allows each user to manage their profile individually. This is the place where both Blindas and Seekers can edit their descriptions, invite friends, and view suggested matches. That feature also allows you to report any anomalies encountered during your adventure with the app.

Piotr, Senior Ruby on Rails Developer

“Blinda is a very interesting project which takes a different approach than other dating apps. As privacy of the data is very important here, it was a challenge to set up connections between Blindas and Seekers with correct visibility and access to specific accounts.”

CHAT

Another feature is a chat where seekers contact each other and gather more information about Blindas. This feature allows users to get to know each other better and match potential dates. Moreover, besides text messages it is also possible to send photos. The communicator helps to get to know daters better from the perspective of their friends and to determine if a possible meeting of theirs has potential.

Piotr, Senior Ruby on Rails Developer

“During the development of this project we had to deal with a very complex account creation process, and handle multiple initial states and transition paths. At first, it seemed very overwhelming, but with good teamwork , brainstorming and continuous improvement we made it bulletproof.”

FILTERING

The application has a filtering option. Users can search for profiles based on distance from home, gender, and age. This is a very useful tool that allows selection of daters according to criteria set by Blinda.

3. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

4. UX / UI

The client came to us with the main concept and ready graphic files. Our task was to make corrections taking into account minor changes. The size and color of particular fonts were improved, in order to obtain better contrast. These actions made the text in the application more readable from the user’s perspective. We have also adjusted the design for smaller devices to make using Blinda more comfortable regardless of the used equipment. We modified the main view to make it easier to use. The project was subjected to unmoderated usability testing. These were intended to show small changes in the UI to be made.

5. QA

Working on QA for Blinda was a challenge of sorts. Due to the number of features available, this application can be considered complex. Blinda is also an application where each user has two perspectives. He can be both Seeker and Blinda, which increases the user’s field of decision making. Quality Assurance activities included checking all the paths available to the user and making sure they were working correctly. One of the challenges we faced was working with Twillo and testing the application with real phone numbers.

Maciej, QA Engineer

“Testing was hard in some parts, but also interesting because of the multitude of paths and settings possibilities inside the application. As I joined the project during the course, I had some questions, but good communication dispelled any doubts. An interesting element was testing on two systems simultaneously, from two mobile devices – it was possible to observe the responsiveness of the servers and the application itself in real time.”

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS & FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

The result of our work is the development of a unique dating app available for iOS and Android operating systems. At the moment, Blinda is only available to users located in San Francisco. However, according to founder Steven Irvin, this is just the beginning of the app’s wider expansion. Like Steven, we believe in the potential of this project and keep our fingers crossed for its success.

Testimonial:

Within five months of collaboration, Railwaymen successfully released Android and iOS versions on time. The team concisely communicated all milestones, changes, and expectations. Above all, they perfectly managed a complex project, strategically performed tasks, and delivered accordingly.

Steven Irvin,

CEO, Blinda

Check interview with Steven and review

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Shawarmer

Bilingual software for the FoodTech

from the GCC region

MOBILE APP

WEB APP

ABOUT PROJECT

About the company

Shawarmer is a quick-service restaurant founded in 1999, which has grown to more than 90 restaurants across the whole Saudi Arabia region. The Shawarmer mission is to take a traditional street food and through innovation, creativity, and experimentation, constantly modernize and interpret shawarma with new flavors, sauces, and variations in wraps and sandwich styles. The company wanted to have mobile apps which will enable users to conveniently order food for pick-up from all of their Shawarmer restaurants.

OUR WORK

Project Management

Android

iOS

Backend

QA

UX & UI

1. PROCESS

Our client came to us thanks to the GITEX tech show in Dubai. As a company known from prior experience with building custom software for businesses from a GCC region (ProTenders) – we were a perfect match!

Shawarmer company had some existing software made by another provider but wasn’t entirely happy with it, as it wasn’t as reliable as they wanted it to be. That’s why at the very beginning, our goal was to rewrite the current hybrid app to two separate native ones (iOS and Android), slightly change its flow and uprate its general functionality.

For starters, our development team consisted of 6 people (one each: CTO, Project Manager, UX/UI Designer, Quality Assurance, Android and iOS) which faced a huge challenge, to adapt their efforts to the local infrastructure. Besides rewriting, the app also required the UX&UI improvements and preparing the comprehensive interface documentation.

While working on the project, we suggested some additional features and improvements, which met our client’s acceptance. So after some time, we’ve expanded our team to 11 software development experts – CTO, Project Manager, UX&UI Designer, 2 x Quality Assurance, 2 x Android, 2 x iOS and 2 x Ruby on Rails developers.

2. THE CHALLENGES

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Even though between our (Cracow) and Shawarmer (Riyadh) headquarters there is almost 5000 km of distance, the time difference is very small – only one hour. Nevertheless, when it comes to cultural differences they are much more visible. For example, in Poland, we usually have weekends (Saturday – Sunday) off, while in Saudi Arabia it is slightly different, with free Fridays and Sundays as their regular working days.

Bartosz, Project Manager

“Initially, there were some cultural differences we needed to overcome – for example, different non-working days during the week or bigger holidays. We had to make sure that they won’t affect our mobile app operation in any way. Some of the application features required cooperation with different departments from our client’s company (eg. IT and marketing), so smooth communication was extremely important.

Thanks to this project, we had a chance to learn a bit about Saudi culture – for example, while working on prayer time feature development. As the project scope and our involvement have grown significantly (eg. KIOSK project) since the first release, I believe, that we’ve been successful in all of these points.”

QUICK ACCESS FOR THE APPROVER

Another challenge that we faced was the proper right to left (RTL) writing support. Shawarmer mobile app had to be available both in English and Arabic language. That’s why while doing the Quality Assurance we had to make sure that all of the texts are inserted right.

Milena, Quality Assurance

“It was my first contact with the Arabic language. At the very beginning, it seemed to be very complicated but at the same time, from the testing perspective – it was a very ambitious challenge! Every app view needed separate design, including opposite mobile device navigation buttons. Even though the Shawarmer team gave us translated documents, the fact of working with different alphabet was truly demanding. I can say with full confidence, that working on the Shawarmer App project is a great experience for me!”

NCR POS SYSTEM INTEGRATION

Shawarmer app goal is to make ordering pick – up food from the restaurant as convenient as possible so integrating it with the local POS system was very important. That was the biggest challenge for us from a technological point of view. Fortunately, we have experience with gastronomy business (POSbistro) so not without the obstacles along the way, we managed to make Shawarmer app integrated with NCR POS system properly.

Kamil, CTO

“The application was challenging from the start as it is not a regular web application or simple API. Firstly we had to understand POS integration from the application existing version which used .NET components. Doing reverse engineering we found out how it works on the backend layer. Based on that and with the agreement from the client, we have built new integration from scratch which used REST API from POS. Thanks to that, we were able to provide new functionalities and scale the integration to accept more traffic. We’re still facing new challenges that we need to resolve or overcome due to POS limitations when scaling into more restaurants. That’s why this project is very interesting and there are still a lot of topics that we need to approach there in a specific way.”

UX & UI IMPROVEMENTS

The application required the UX&UI improvements and preparation of the comprehensive interface documentation. Basing on a Brand Book that we’ve received from our client, we have overdrawn the whole app making it’s more clear and visually engaging.

Sylwia, UX&UI Designer

“In the first stage of building Shawarmer App, our main goals were to provide a project that will be easily expanded in the future and improve the app general user experience. From the very beginning, we focused on analyzing app workflow and we’ve marked points that might be difficult in use for the customer. At the same time, we worked with documentation provided by the client (especially Brand Book) as Shawarmer the company has quite strict rules regarding its visual identity. We recreated the whole existing project in designing tools and implemented all the necessary changes. The whole team was involved in the designing process and that was crucial, to develop consistent and efficient solutions that meet both users and system requirements.”

3. Mobile apps

Our client wanted to have two separate native mobile apps, both for iOS and Android users. This approach enables us to ensure better User Experience which in the end – makes users more eager to use the app. Both of the apps have the same functionalities as follows.

PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Tracking order status changes: the customer receives the notification when his/her order is ready for pickup from the restaurant. The Shawarmer can send promotional information to customers from their database.

Agnieszka, Senior Android Developer

“Providing the user with updates is one of the main goals of mobile applications. To handle that we focused on the way the user interacts with the information in our ecosystem. We have implemented a smart system for user notifications that use data collected through analytics in the application. Thanks to that, the user always knows all about his orders and ongoing offers.”

CONTACT LINE: CLIENT - SHOP

Shawarmer App enables users to share their feedback through rating the received dishes on a scale of 1 to 3 or writing a comment. Thanks to this data, restaurant owners have a chance to improve various aspects of their business. App users can also write their opinion on a specific restaurant (as there are more than 90 Shawarmer branches) which gives the owner valuable info about which locals are doing better or worse than others.

APP USAGE DATA ANALYTICS

The app is tracking all of the data connected with the way users are experiencing the software. How long do they stay in it, on which screens they are deciding to leave it or how long does it take them, to make an order successfully? All of these events are integrated into Mixpanel analytics. Thanks to all of that, the app owner can constantly improve its product, to make it as convenient and user-friendly as possible.

PAYMENTS INTEGRATION

For iOS users, we integrated Shawarmer App with Apple Pay, as this solution is becoming more popular year by year and in 2018, reached almost 400 M users worldwide. Users are also able to use all of the other popular payment methods like credit cards, including Mada.

Piotr, Senior iOS Developer

4. admin panel

Both Shawarmer mobile app and KIOSK (our separate product, that we’ve built for our client to make ordering food stationary as convenient as possible – more about Shawarmer KIOSK app soon) are also supported by a dedicated Admin Panel, which allows easy access to any system settings. It also includes tools for tracking customer feedback and overall sales statistics.

CUSTOMER PROFILE MANAGEMENT

Thanks to the Panel, the restaurant owner is able to see data about each of its clients (the ordering history). How much food are they ordering, in which flavors and in what time of day? Thanks to that knowledge he can, for example, focus on products that give him the most profits or award customers, who are making the highest amount of the orders. Shawarmer app users can evaluate each order and leave their opinions. Tools built into the Admin panel allow Shawarmer crew to assign customer relations representatives for each client feedback so customer satisfaction stays high. Built-in tools allow for quick data review.

User management for the Admin Panel allows for the easy addition of new staff to the system with proper permissions. Because of this, it’s easy to add a marketing analyst who’d like to review overall sales or a branch manager, who may be interested in checking what kind of feedback is his restaurant getting.

ISSUES REPORTING & THOROUGH ANALYTICS

In case something went wrong, Shawarmer app users can report issues, which will be available to see in the Panel by the restaurant owner in the Reviews section. He can address them directly from the Panel to make sure that his services are of the highest quality. To avoid complaints that are not reasonable, the Admin Panel is also storing in the database and presenting various data like service speed (preparing/picking time) or the time of the payments.

Users are also able to send their general opinion about the specific restaurant or dish – like “it was good, but I would add some less onion”. Reviews and feedbacks are visible in separate areas of the Admin Panel. Thanks to all of that the restaurant owner has a chance to analyze various aspects of his business and make sure everything is working smoothly.

Mateusz, RoR Developer

“Both Shawarmer KIOSK and mobile app are gathering a lot of valuable data – the key is to make displaying and analyzing them as convenient as possible. This is where Admin Panel steps in. Thanks to the possibility of filtering the gathered big data and presenting it as charts, everything becomes much more understandable and leads to making up highly – educated business decisions.”

BASIC CONTENT & FEATURES MANAGEMENT

Using the Admin Panel, Shawarmer restaurants staff with the right permissions can change the content inside the app in real-time. They can change banners visible in the app, “about the company” section and more, without stopping the app. The Shawarmer mobile app is having a “prayer time” functionality, which notifies the user that he/she will need to wait a bit longer to receive his/her food. The period of that time is also manageable from the Admin Panel. In case of any issues the app owner, with the right permissions, can always turn on a maintenance mode.

DATA VISUALIZATION

Admin Panel not only gathers all of the data from the Shawarmer Mobile App and KIOSK but also displays them in a clear yet comprehensive visual way. You can, for example, see there charts showing what was the reviews (good or bad, how much of each?) this week/month/year and compare it with the previous period. It can also display you which are the Top 3 restaurants so far or which cities are bringing the biggest profits. That way analyzing even the biggest amount of data becomes much more convenient.

5. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS & FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

The result of our work is the construction of two fully functional mobile applications (iOS and Android) alongside a browser-accessible Administration Panel. The app is popular with both operating systems. On Android-supported devices, the number of downloads according to the Google Store is currently over 500,000. On the other hand, for the iOS operating system, Shawarmer has been rated more than 55,000 times on the App Store platform.

Currently, we are still cooperating with the Shawarmer, working on additional features that will be implemented soon. Among them, we can distinguish an option to order your food with the delivery.

Testimonial:

“Railwaymen team helped us in rebuilding our Mobile applications with strong base. Their professionality made the process very smooth and fast. We did this in very short time even we had a lot of obstacles. Building the base in very professional way and as per the standard with the alignment of the up-to date technology helped us to start another project with them (KIOSK “self-service”) in very short notice and finished it as planned.”

Abdulaziz AlMusaireae,

Brand Extension Director

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Alamar Foods

Integration of Restaurant Chain Systems for a Middle Eastern Food Service Operator

MOBILE APP

WEB APP

ABOUT PROJECT

Through the development of a backend API, we were able to implement an e-Wallet supporting the leading restaurant chain in the GCC Region.

About the company

Alamar Foods is a Saudi Arabia-based Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) operator. The company is a franchisee of brands such as Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts for Arab countries Over its three decades of activity in the market Alamar has developed a huge amount of trust among customers. Such support allows the company to introduce technological and business innovations to continuously improve the comfort and quality of customer service.

Alamar’s mission

The company aspires to be an international leader in the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry. Alamar seeks to achieve this goal through steady growth and the introduction of market best practices. By investing in the highest quality technological solutions, the Saudi giant seeks to increase the quality of its services while keeping in mind the user experience of its customers.

OUR WORK

Project Management

Frontend

Backend

QA

UX & UI

CUSTOMER OBJECTIVE

Enhance existing client-side tools with additional functionality that will translate into
convenience and positively impact user experience.

THE CHALLENGE

Implementing the e-Wallet system via a backend API into customer applications supporting
several hundred restaurant points.

1. PROCESS

The cooperation with Alamar began in the second half of 2021. The original idea was to develop an e-Wallet that could be integrated with the client's products. This solution is often compared to a prepaid card due to its similar operating principles. With the ability to recharge the account, the user can use part of his funds to easily pay for orders.

The cooperation with Alamar began in the second half of 2021. The original idea was to develop an e-Wallet that could be integrated with the client's products. This solution is often compared to a prepaid card due to its similar operating principles. With the ability to recharge the account, the user can use part of his funds to easily pay for orders.

Communication & Workflow

As in the case of previous projects such as Shawarmer, we had to work together to develop a model of cooperation that takes advantage of the cultural commonalities and contrasts between Poland and Saudi Arabia. We refined all the rules of cooperation related to the differences occurring in our working systems (different working days in both countries), and adjusted the appropriate model of communication in order to keep up to date with the client on the progress of the work.

Bartosz, Project Manager

“E-Wallet system for Alamar Foods was an interesting project to build since by design it connects to many different systems, not one specific app/website. Because of this we had to design a flexible tool which handles many different business cases. This has allowed the E-Wallet system to merge seamlessly with current Alamar tools and architecture.”

2. The features

API DEVELOPMENT

After reviewing the solutions offered by Alamar, we came to the conclusion together that the best solution would be for Railwaymen to craft a purspose-built backend API. All this in order to be able to integrate the available client-side solutions with the new functionalities in the easiest way possible.

EXAMPLE OF USAGE:

In Saudi Arabia, it is common to identify a user by phone number. Therefore, when a user completes an order, cashback is credited to their account. Since Alamar supports a growing number of restaurant chains, the solution must allow the user to be able to receive funds from any of them.

E-WALLET

In the aforementioned API, we decided to include the customer’s expected e-Wallet. In this way, existing tools at Alamar Foods and future products can easily be integrated with the newly developed functionality.

It took the RWM team of developers around 3 months to put together a basic version of the feature. In addition to the API, we created a basic admin panel

In a later stage of cooperation, we began expanding the e-Wallet with additional capabilities. Our work included, among others, a feature that allows restaurant owners to generate promotional coupons. With such a marketing option, the user can use the coupon he receives and apply the discount applicable to his order. Another improvement we are working on is the streamlining of the Customer Service functionality. In case of any inconvenience, the user will be able to seamlessly contact the service and describe the problem occurring. The Customer Service department, upon receiving the request, can then quickly process it and decide, for example, whether the customer should be compensated for the e-Wallet funds.

Piotr, Ruby on Rails Developer

“E-wallet was a very interesting project but also very challenging. When implementing the functionalities, we had to remember to make them highly scalable to handle multiple requests simultaneously. I also had the opportunity to get familiar with popular payment solutions used in the Saudi Arabic market, thanks to which the process of payment to top up the wallet became simple and intuitive for the user. It was a very developing experience.”

MULTI-REGION SUPPORT FOR THE TOOL

Due to the client’s presence in multiple regions, our role was to develop a support solution, with one system responsible for the company’s international branches handling different currencies. With the help of an appropriate configuration we made it possible to oversee all transactions from a single tool without having to switch to different systems for each country.

Paweł, Ruby on Rails Developer

“Alamar was the first project I worked on as a Junior RoR developer. For me, the biggest challenge was the implementation of bulk top-ups and their optimization for thousands of simultaneous top-ups. Working on this project was a great and very useful experience from which I could learn a lot.”

REPORT HANDLING

The administrative part being developed in the second phase also included work on reporting, data gathering and analysis. The reporting form was developed based on the client’s needs. The reporting process also includes statistics related to the discount program provided through coupons. In the administrative panel, decision-makers have access to detailed information related to the number of coupons redeemed and their value used.

USER PORTAL

The first version of e-Wallet only included the ability to fund a customer’s account with cash through an API we developed. However, in a later stage of the work, the client decided to implement a user portal for replenishing the funds. It is also worth mentioning that depositing money can be done in different currencies. With GCC customers in mind, we have made integration with the Moyasar system, which allows handling payments valid in that region. The solution created by Railwaymen supports STC PAY and MADA cards, which are as popular as the aforementioned Moyasar.

Ania, UI Designer

“I had an opportunity to work on Alamar Foods project and would say that it’s been a great journey on creating an app. This is an excellent solution for managing clients and offers. We made it easier for users and admins to access the personal portal with benefits and offers, so they will never miss a chance to use this and stay loyal to their favorite service. ”

3. TECHNOLOGIES & TOOLS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS & FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

The result of our cooperation with Alamar Foods was a streamlining of the functionality of the company's existing business tools for Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts by integrating them with a custom backend API. We developed a solution that integrates the local payment service, can handle a large number of user cases, and at the same time is fully scalable. Further development stages of the project include the possibility of applying other customer service enhancements from within any application released under the Alamar Foods brand.

RALLY CHARGE

MOBILE APP

ABOUT PROJECT

About company:

OUR WORK

Android

Backend

Graphic design

iOS App

1. PROCESS

Ola, Android Developer

2. MOBILE APP

IOS APP:

Campaigns

Charging points

MAP

ITTT

3. ADMIN PANEL

4. APP REDESIGN

Consistent Visual Communication

5. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS

BACKED BY:

Testimonial:

Check interview with Cory and review

Let's connect

SAFE DRIVING

APP POWERED BY

RALLY

MOBILE APP

ABOUT PROJECT

OUR WORK

Android

Backend

UX/UI

QA

1. PROCESS

Ola, Android Developer​

Working with hardware

2. FEATURES

APPS WHITELIST

Autorespond

Charging points

Notifications

Bartek, QA​

3. APP DESIGN

QuickSand Light Font

ICONS & COLORS:

#575757

#9DE6E7

#2DCCCD

4. TECHNOLOGIES & INTEGRATIONS

FINAL PRODUCT

RESULTS

BACKED BY:

Testimonial:

Check interview with Cory and review

Let's connect

MySoberRoommate

mobile app

web app

web app

web app

ABOUT PROJECT

OUR WORK

Frontend

Backend

UX/UI

QA

iOS App

1. PROCESS

Agata, Project Manager​

2. WEB APP

WEB APP

Searching

Connecting

Messages

3. MOBILE APP

Tomasz, Senior RoR Developer​

RALLY
CHARGE

SAFE
DRIVING

Ola, Android Developer

Bartek, QA

Agata, Project Manager

Tomasz, Senior RoR Developer