NextDoor

NEXTDOOR allows users to find and book local services, such as home improvement, repairs and cleaning. Businesses can use the platform to promote services and connect with potential customers. Discover how Computools helped NEXTDOOR build a successful social commerce platform that connects people and businesses in the same area.

Industry:

Software

Location:

USA

Business size:

Startups

Problem and Solution Summary

The client, NEXTDOOR, a forward-thinking company with a deep understanding of community dynamics, sought to fill the gap between local service needs and reliable providers in established neighbourhoods. Given the limitations of traditional service directories and the fragmentation of online marketplaces, the client envisioned a hyperlocal solution. This platform would provide residents with qualified services and foster a sense of ownership and collaboration within the community.

Computools developed a two-way social commerce platform to meet the client's multifaceted needs that would revolutionise the search for local services and promote community engagement.

About the Client

The company is headquartered in the United States and has a record of success in developing innovative solutions that improve the lives of residents and businesses. The client's mission is to ‘connect people and businesses in their neighbourhoods to create a more vibrant and supportive community.’ This mission is reflected in the client's commitment to developing a hyperlocal marketplace that would:
  • seamlessly connect residents with qualified local services
  • build trust and transparency between residents and service providers
  • foster community engagement and collaboration

Outcome

Throughout the project, we strategically employed a combination of readily available and tailor-made solutions to ensure the platform's seamless operation and performance. Initially launched in a select test market within the United States, NEXTDOOR quickly garnered significant traction and achieved early profitability, demonstrating its compelling value proposition and resonating with a local community.

Several key issues we solved:
  • Simplified user registration and authentication through social media.
  • Implemented service provider bookings, ratings and reliable recommendations.
  • Built in strong analytics and marketing services.

Business challenge

weaknesses

  • The project had to be built from scratch
  • Limited time available

strengths

  • Preliminary marketing research showing high demand for such a platform
  • Unoccupied business niche, low level of competition (at the time of project creation)
  • Well-planned auditory coverage and interactions model

Business challenge

Project Completion Details and Current Arrangements

The collaboration between NEXTDOOR and Computools involved a transparent and iterative development process. Following initial consultations and requirements analysis, Computools employed a phased approach.
  • Prototype and Proof of Concept: A rapid prototyping phase validated the platform's core functionality and user experience, ensuring alignment with the client's vision.
  • Agile Development: The platform was built in sprints, allowing for continuous feedback, feature refinements and adjustments based on user testing and market insights.
  • Open Communication: Regular meetings, communication channels and project management tools fostered seamless collaboration and ensured all stakeholders were informed and engaged throughout the development cycle.

Current arrangements include ongoing maintenance and support services provided by Computools, ensuring the platform's continued performance, security and scalability.

Business challenge

Why Computools?

The client acknowledged several factors in choosing Computools as their development partner.
  • Computools' track record of success in building complex web platforms, particularly marketplaces, instilled confidence in their ability to deliver on the NEXTDOOR vision.
  • Our comprehensive understanding of modern technologies like AngularJS, Node.js, and MongoDB assured the client of a robust and scalable platform architecture.
  • Computools' embrace of Agile methodologies, including Scrum, promised iterative development and continuous improvement, allowing for flexibility and rapid adaptation to emerging needs.
  • The client valued our commitment to open communication and collaboration, ensuring alignment with their vision and addressing concerns throughout the project.

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STORY IN DEPTH

The client's selection process was rigorous and comprehensive, reflecting the importance of the project to the organisation. The client began by conducting extensive research to identify potential development partners. This research included reviewing online portfolios, gathering recommendations from industry peers and attending industry events.

The client then narrowed the field to select candidates for further evaluation. This evaluation included a detailed review of the candidate's experience, expertise and capabilities. The client also interviewed key team members to assess their cultural fit and commitment to the project.

In the end, the client selected Computools as their development partner based on the following factors:
  • Proven expertise
  • Technology competency
  • Agile methodology
  • Collaborative approach
  • Team composition

Project Description

The main idea of the project was to create an online social networking service for people who live in the same area to give them the ability to bring together and help each other in performing household matters. The client turned to Computools for a reliable software development solution – marketplace – to provide robust services.

Computools’ engineers built a two-sided software as a service and home-improvement social platform. This social commerce platform is where users interact with businesses and communities in their residential postcode to get useful updates about their community, complete projects and tasks from local service providers, and find relevant deals from businesses and other users.

This is intended for two types of users: regular users and businesses. Each category has received its own set of functions and options. Businesses can access the business dashboard and receive notifications for potential projects in their area. Regular users have projects, a dashboard, social features, a profile and a newsfeed. The platform's monetisation is carried out through a monthly subscription and advertising in specialised blocks, with additional fees for project promotion.

Digital Platform & Technology

To build a state-of-the-art platform, we chose a set of technologies with exceptional performance and security characteristics.

Communication Framework

Constant communication with the client is crucial for solving urgent questions and discussing tasks and current issues in the web development services project. The most convenient instant messengers were selected to communicate with the customer in this project. Regular conferences and meetings were held on Skype, and WhatsApp was used for urgent discussions. This made it possible to perform tasks following the necessary requirements.
Skype
Email
Slack
redmine
Jira

Team

The Computools engineering team applied their industry and development knowledge and expertise.

Business Analyst

Kateryna Vodolazkina

Kate is a business analyst at Computools with many years of experience in the field. She is passionate about working with clients to understand their needs and develop solutions that meet them. Kate has a strong understanding of business processes and is skilled at identifying and analysing requirements. She is also an effective communicator and can bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders. Outside work, Kate enjoys reading, spending time with her family and travelling.

Business Development Manager

Artem Babura

Artem Babura
Artem specialises in automating business processes, implementing cutting-edge management systems and optimising digital operation models. His mission is to drive prosperity for clients by offering end-to-end solutions in innovative software development, allowing businesses to focus on their core objectives.
Artem Babura

Project Manager

Andrey Melnichenko

Andrey started working in IT in 2003, focusing on C and C++ development, switched to Java in 2007. He is recognised for extensive expertise in application servers, software development life cycle and database architecture. He enjoys pop music, as well as political and Java ecosystem podcasts.

Team Lead

Andrii Biedniak

Andrii Biedniak
Andrii has been working at Computools since 2015. He was first a Node.js developer, then a technical lead, and now he is the Head of Node.js Development. He also has experience with MongoDB, React, TypeScript, Git and Scrum. He is trying to make this world a better place.
Andrii Biedniak

Angular Technology Lead

Alexey Kolomoets

Alexey Kolomoets
Alexey has extensive knowledge and experience in various tools and technologies. These include Angular 4, AngularJS, JavaScript, jQuery, jQuery UI, AJAX, CSS, HTML, HTML5, CodeIgniter, CMS, PhpMyAdmin, MySQL, Photoshop, WordPress, PHP, React, Redux, and Gulp. His expertise has been endorsed by numerous colleagues from Computools and others in the field.
Alexey Kolomoets

WP Technology Lead

Daria Holowan

Daria is an experienced team leader with a successful track record in project management and team coordination. Her leadership skills and ability to efficiently organise the team's efforts make her a valuable asset to our team.

UI/UX Designer

Denis Hubriienko

Denis is a highly skilled designer with a keen eye for detail. He is also a talented communicator and can effectively collaborate with teams of developers and engineers. He is a big fan of travel and loves to explore new cultures. He believes travelling is a great way to learn about different people and perspectives.

Quality Assurance Specialist

Mariia Hrekova

With over five years of experience, Mariia expertly monitors every phase of the software development process to secure product quality and standards. She enjoys dancing and travelling.

Story of a Team Decision

Computools carefully chooses a team to work on a project to provide web development services at the highest level. The main task is to select experts whose skills and experience will allow the realisation of the tasks efficiently, quickly and at a high level of quality. For this project, designers and developers who had experience working on a variety of similar projects were selected.

Backstage

Our team used a variety of tools and technologies to manage the project, including Jira, Confluence, and Slack.

Sprint Retrospective

Our team held regular sprint retrospectives to review the previous sprint and identify areas for improvement.

Planning Session

We held weekly planning sessions to discuss the goals for the upcoming sprint and assign tasks.

Sprint Demo

Our team held a sprint demo at the end of each sprint to showcase the progress made.

Communication Flow

Our team maintained open and transparent communication throughout the project, using a variety of channels, including email, video conferencing and live chat.

Project Management Methodology

Computools employed an Agile methodology, specifically Scrum, to manage the NEXTDOOR project. Scrum's iterative cycles and continuous feedback loops allowed for rapid prototyping, adjustment and optimisation throughout the development process.

It prioritises open communication and close collaboration between the client and the development team. Scrum's focus on delivering working software in short sprints fostered a sense of urgency and efficiency within the team. This rapid delivery cycle allowed for early feedback and faster iteration, ultimately leading to a quicker time to market for NEXTDOOR.

Project timeline

5 months
10 months
1 week
Consulting & design phase
Engineering phase
Launch
01

CONSULTING

  • Understanding the competitive landscape, target audience and market trends to inform strategic decisions
  • Brainstorming and refining innovative ideas for new products, services or business models
  • Assessing the viability of a new venture and developing a roadmap for success
  • Streamlining workflows, implementing best practices and enhancing efficiency
  • Identifying potential challenges and developing strategies to overcome them
02

Product DESIGN

  • Understanding user needs, motivations and pain points to inform design decisions
  • Organising content and designing intuitive interfaces for user interactions
  • Creating a visually appealing and consistent brand identity across all touchpoints
  • Building and iterating on prototypes to get user feedback and refine the design
  • Creating a set of reusable components and guidelines to ensure consistency and efficiency
03

Product Engineering

  • Building and maintaining the software that powers the product
  • Ensuring the software is functional, secure and reliable
  • Managing the deployment, operation and scaling of the software
  • Utilising data to gain insights and optimise the product
  • Ensuring the product meets all relevant security and privacy regulations
04

Launch

  • Building awareness and generating excitement for the product
  • Determining the best channels and tactics for reaching target customers
  • Setting the right price point and developing effective promotional campaigns
  • Attracting new customers and helping them get the most out of the product
  • Monitoring key metrics and making adjustments to improve results

Design

The design development began with thinking through the user experience, which ensured the convenience and simplicity of the marketplace. The user interface was designed in a minimalistic style. However, it is intuitive for service providers and potential customers. The design implementation was done in parallel with developing the platform's functionality, which ensured a quick fix and debugging.

USER PERSONA → WIREFRAMES → USER INTERFACE
nextdoor user persona

USER PERSONA

Introducing the busy homeowner seeking reliable local service providers

nextdoor wireframes

WIREFRAMES

Visualising the user journey, click by click, from browsing services to booking appointments

nextdoor user interface

USER INTERFACE

Designing an intuitive and engaging platform that empowers communities and businesses

Design

PRODUCTION RELEASE

Computools worked closely with the client to ensure a smooth and successful production release for NEXTDOOR. The team conducted extensive testing to ensure the platform was stable and secure, and they developed a comprehensive training programme for the client's team.

The release of NEXTDOOR was a major success, with the platform quickly gaining traction and reaching a large user base.

Design

ONGOING SUPPORT

Computools continues to provide ongoing support for NEXTDOOR, including:
  • Bug fixes and security updates
  • New features and functionality
  • Technical support

The team is committed to ensuring that NEXTDOOR remains a reliable and valuable platform for its users. They are constantly working to improve the platform and meet the needs of the community.

Contact Us

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