Twingly Dashboard
How to create a better and more modern version of something that works – and make it worth it? This was the challenge in the Twingly case.
We like to say that we give our clients what they need, not always what they want. However, in some cases our job is to build exactly what the client requests. When you’re dealing with a client that has technically savvy employees who knows the ins and outs of the current solution. Like in the Twingly case.
However - there is always a problem to be solved
Their own tech specialists had already mapped out functional requirements and needs in a detailed manner.
And our mission: to create a better and more modern version of something that already works - and make it worth it.
How to do it? To build something that covered all the functional requirements that the old solution had, with some additional scope, and give the users a new and modern feel. All while keeping the costs down.
The project has been smooth sailing. We have had great communication with the team and delivery went exactly according to the planned timeline and scope. We are very happy with the results and this is a great improvement to our product!
Overall project description
Twingly processes/indexes social data from worldwide blogs, forums, news and other, and lets its users access the data through their APIs. Innocode had a task to help the users and potential users to try out the data without having to query the APIs directly (and write code). So, we made a new dashboard for Twingly’s API and the core feature there is a user-friendly set of filters where even a non-developer can build their queries or preview the results per each API.
Build and tech stack
For Twingly we used Ruby on Rails web framework and PostgreSQL as a database for backend, and ReactJS + Material UI for frontend. (Just) a very basic stack and tools that we use for projects like Twingly.
Design
At the first stage of working with the Twingly project, we identified user problems and needs. We also analyzed business requirements and specifications. Based on this, we developed the information architecture of the product and defined user roles and developed scenarios for the interaction of user roles with the product. As the next step, we chose the Google Material UI framework and created a quick prototype based on it. Each iteration of the prototype was agreed with the client according to business requirements and user needs.We also conducted several quick usability tests of the prototype for ease of use for users.
The next step was to ensure the web accessibility of the product in accordance with an international standard of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). As a result, we delivered an updated product design and query building tool with a high-fidelity clickable prototype in Figma based on the Material UI frontend framework.
Cross collaboration
The beauty of the Twingly case is the collaboration between two technically savvy companies.
And the result: A better and more modern version of Twingly. All worth it!
