Whitesky, Los Angeles, California
A platform for a Single Page App, in order to allow the customers to achieve a better user experience
Jun 2015 – now
In need of automation
WhiteSky initially looked for a Python developer to improve their dashboard for clients. The aim was to automate processes in the company (direct access to invoices, history of calls, breakdown reporting etc.) that needlessly took plenty of time offline. They had a version of the panel written by the very founder, but the time they contacted us it was faulty and missed essential features.
Before
Outdated design didn’t go hand in hand with the high-tech company. The website didn’t work properly, had no mobile version and used archaic technologies that didn’t support the most recent devices, e.g. with Retina display.
The main challenge - find unique value proposition
The main challenge was to make the client realize their strengths and a unique value proposition. We spent many hours brainstorming to make the company stand out from the competition and communicate clearly their advantage.
We helped WhiteSky to think the whole business over and in the result build whole new modern brand and websites.
From dashboard for clients to a whole new brand
We started with cleaning up the dashboard and major improvements. We rewrote it in Django REST framework to separate front-end layer from back-end. This resulted in better user experience and made it easier to develop, test and deploy the code.
When we reached the moment when front-end should step in, it turned out that there is no guideline how the panel should actually look like. The company definitely needed a brand identity so we started to design it.
The new brand is minimalist, fresh and modern. With the use of the abstract Wi-Fi symbol, the logo reflects communication and technology. The client got to like it so much that asked to design a separate wholesale site in line with the new branding. The new site appeared an excellent tool to increase sales, so we designed, cut and implemented corporate site and zendesk support page as well.
At every phase we acted as an internal team within WhiteSky team. We were their marketing, design and development team. Whenever some skill was needed we introduced a new person from our team to step in, so the client could remain focused on their business issues.
Technology stack
WhiteSky initially looked for a Python developer to improve their dashboard for clients. The aim was to automate processes in the company (direct access to invoices, history of calls, breakdown reporting etc.) that needlessly took plenty of time offline. They had a version of the panel written by the very founder, but the time they contacted us it was faulty and missed essential features.
We used ECMAScript 6 for better performance. Babel tool converted ES6 to be understandable to all browsers.
For better efficiency we organized HTML and SCSS structure using BEM methodology.
To automate the development process we used Jenkins, Ansible, pull requests, and code review with GitFlow.
All icons are in vectors and the page looks perfectly sharp on Retina. The platform is fully responsive, with content-first approach – the user gets layout, texts and only then the bells and whistles. The application fully customizable, ready to add extra features in future.
Outstanding features
Customized Zendesk and added features, CSS and Promise (JS + ES6), animations instead of timeouts (JS) and Delay (CSS). responsive versions divided in the terms of code, so they are displayed properly everywhere, no matter the platform or resolution, browser support two versions back.
The client had access to the team of various competences
In the price of one full-time employee, 6 specialists took care of the WhiteSky project: graphic designer, UI, UX, web designer, illustrator. software architect, 2 front-end developers. back-end developer, product manager.
Result
We pride ourselves in building brand awareness among WhiteSky team. We acted as a team within their team, making use of all our competences when they were needed. We helped WhiteSky to think the whole business over and in the result build whole new modern brand and websites.
