E-learning Mobile App for Skill Building United Kingdom

EdTech MVP 101’s

MVP had ambitious goals that needed to be present in order for the app to be competitive when it hit the ground running.

First off, people being at the center of the app, user registration was the first core functionality which needed to be on point. Clean databases which house user data, geolocation, analytics, as well as user behavior features such as media file upload and in-app messages needed to work together but not step on each other’s shoes.

Next up, the mobile app was looking to integrate revenue generation directly into the app. Together, we picked Stripe as the reliable payment processor for this task which enabled us to spend time more efficiently on other features, without worrying about building payments from the ground up.

To engage users and enable platform growth, we’ve implemented push notifications for course booking, as well as messages. Going a step further, we’ve made the course progress, ratings and reviews are shareable on social media for learners to get awareness towards future employers, as well as bring much needed attention towards the platform itself. A referral system was also sketched and implemented, rewarding alumni that recommended courses to other potential students. Thesereferrelas were paid 5 GBP, which could be used to purchase other courses.

Wrapping it all up, the mobile application needed a comprehensive admin panel to provide support to both learners and teachers.

Putting knowledge to work

While diamonds form under pressure, if not coordinated well, the only thing mvp development is guaranteed to generate are botched releases. Having been through strict time constraints in the past, our team was laser focused with a battle plan ready to get the learning hub up and running. 

To get the ball rolling, we implemented DevOps to make the whole development cycle shorter, and be prepped for fast releases. These systems support all other functionalities and integrations, making sure they play well among each other, as well as provide a critical asset of the app - fast and smooth scalability.

Our project manager was focused on getting all the required information ASAP and coordinate with the dev team on building the MVP bug-free. We’ve also implemented a strict process of communicating with the client's team, to ensure everybody was on the same page daily, through daily 1 hour synchronisation meetings. 

Having this flow of daily feedback enabled us to provide suggestions and optimisations on each step of the cycle. For the digital product to go to market fast, we’ve siloed the app in 3 releases, the first one having the core features running smoothly for learners to join as we were prepping more features in the following months.

To make the native app development possible, we’ve worked with React Native for the mobile side, which also enabled us to develop and launch mobile features very fast on both iOS and Android, for all OS versions.

On the backend side, we used one of the best tech when it comes to scaling products that have spontaneous features implemented - nodejs.  

The result

With clear goals and constant communication, we’ve managed to launch the first version within 2 months. On the last day of the deadline, the latest fixes were introduced and delivered, ensuring a fully functioning, bug free v1 of the MVP.

As we kept deadlines strict, we continued to work on the next 2 releases in the course of 8 months. Our client has a fully functioning, revenue generating educational platform which is being used by thousands of people worldwide.