Daffodil helps Area Owl to realize their idea of a search engine that connects travelers with local businesses

The engagement started with the Daffodil team setting up a strategic requirement gathering process in place. This was done through our unique Discover & Frame workshop, wherein we document app ideas, target market, persona, business model, competition, revenue streams, etc. This helps us get a clear understanding of what is the client’s expectations and effectively develop a project roadmap. Once all the aforementioned aspects were documented, our expert business analyst team analyzed the application requirements, created user stories, feature lists, process flow diagrams and clickable prototypes of the application. On the techno-commercial front, they suggested the most viable technology stack, identified third party tools and Integration and proposed a block level architecture of the application.

The user experience was one of the project’s cornerstones. We focused on creating intuitive usability to facilitate travelers to easily locate required information, as well as lucid visualization tools to allow businesses create their own web presence with ease. The UI/UX of the application was a result of an extensive research by our business analyst team to study the behavior and motivation factors of the defined user persona.

Keeping all of requirements into consideration, Daffodil recommended developing the application using Drupal, PHP and MYSQL as core technologies. Envisaging the utter need of scalability and robustness of the application, a cloud-based architecture was designed so that the system is exquisitely responsive to increase in number of users. Daffodil developed a cloud based CRM application that enables local merchants to create an account for their services with custom information such as banners, menu, directions, website etc. A different module was developed for travelers that enabled them to search for businesses in their vicinity based on custom filters such as distance, business type, services offered, operating time, and review etc.

Daffodil followed the Kanban methodology for application development. While the project involved continuous improvements with add-on features for better user experience by the client, team Daffodil successfully launched the app in 3 months of its inception. Some of the key features that we incorporated in the application were:

• Stripe payment gateway integration for local businesses to get started with paid subscription of Area Owl services.
• An admin panel for hotels and local businesses was created that enables them to create a web page to promote their services.
• Integrating the application with third party CRM for email events like sign up, web page creation etc.
• Integrating applications with third party APIs (like Bokun.io) for startups to better connect with the platform.