SOFTWARE APPLICATION

 

Turn key programs for software and technology.

We assist companies succeed in the economics of applications.

UCRYA is an expert in Software/Application solutions of Product design, development, re-engineering, Maintenance & Support and Testing. We have amazing DevOps teams as well.

UCRYA’s technology specialists deliver a fully branded experience. We offer our customers comprehensive “white label” consumer and small business technology service programs so you can:

 

  • Create new, profitable revenue streams.

Consumer and small business customers will pay for technology services, including set up, synchronization, troubleshooting & repair, education and enablement.

  • Create long-term recurring relationships.

Our platform enables technology companies to effectively sell and bill monthly subscriptions, enabling them to create long-term revenue relationships.

  • Monetize out-of-scope calls.

Transform out-of-scope calls into revenue-generating opportunities.

  • Leverage technology solutions to reduce “No Fault Found” returns.

Our technology solutions can improve the out-of-the-box experience and reduce costly NFF returns while improving customer satisfaction.

 

Why UCRYA is the first preference for a solution/service seeker when it comes to choosing from the top software/application solutions companies?

Below are the points that prove why we are the top software/application solutions.

  • We have successfully developed and delivered software solutions to our clients exceeding their expectations
  • Our extensible partnership post deployment help clients in optimizing business processes
  • Our expertise and talent are seen in the software applications we have developed so far.
  • We have developed customized software solutions for global companies.
  • We turn raw ideas into comprehensive software solutions using ingenious methodology and expert programming & designing skills
  • We are focused on designing and developing business solutions for all industries.
  • We follow agile methodology and keep our clients in loop to reduce the chances of system failure and be adaptive to the changing end-user needs during development phase
  • We have a huge experience in implementing customized software solutions that increase business value and provide useful insights to set future goals.
  • The commitment to provide high quality and passion to implement challenging software solution has made us serve various clients across the globe with 100% client retention
  • Our Value shore model has been exclusively designed to provide high productive and cost-effective software/application solutions and services.
  • Clients’ Trust is what matter to us. Therefore, we make sure that the information remains confidential and secured.
  • UCRYA is amongst the software/application solutions companies in which believe in delivering excellence. We just don’t develop to give it a shape. We develop with a purpose to help clients in achieving their goals.
  • Developing solution is a creativity. Our squad of skilled developers are the creators of the outstanding software applications
  • With the exceptional experience and comprehensive solutions across various domains and industries, we directly work with our clients and transform them into the high performing organization.
  • We have adopted the modern software development methodology called as Agile + DevOps which help us to develop robust and scalable solution with continuous software testing. The report prepared by Forrester underlines the crucial points of application development and delivery leaders (AD&D) navigating this transition.
  • Our clients appreciate our efforts and potential to work as per their needs. This encourages us to build more such unique solutions that add to our impressive portfolio.
 

So, your search for the better solutions based company ends here! We will guide you through the entire software development life cycle (SDLC), which includes understanding and analyzing your requirements, designing, developing, debugging (software testing), deploying and software support services.

Drop in your project requirements in the email info@ucrya.com or call us at +1-(407)-362-7691. Our experts will guide you through your needs and recommend you the best solution for your business.

 

 

1. CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DESIGN

Software design through market research, end-user survey and industry trend analysis

Software conceptualization provides the basis for your project. All applications evolve from ideas in the minds of designers and programmers to become a reality as we go through the design process, adhering to project milestones and conducting our quality assurance tests all along the way.

Research Is Essential for the Best Conceptualization of Your Software

To get the best understanding of your software project’s needs, the team at UCRYA will enter the research phase. This allows us to gather the details that will guide the project design and development as we address your goals and specifications.

 

Market Research 

It’s important to get an overview of your competitors and the features their software currently provides.

This helps us identify their weaknesses and determine what functionality is lacking in applications, so we can address them and provide a superior product with your software, making it more appealing and engaging to your target user base.

We also take note of what works well in competing applications as we prepare to design a much-improved software offering for your organization.

With groundbreaking software, we need to conduct a feasibility study to verify the proper functioning of your application before design begins in earnest.

 

Collect Data and Analyze Industry Trends

Our team of top-notch researchers gathers all relevant data regarding your software category. Information to be gathered includes which platforms your end users will be relying on, trends in technology development and hardware advancement and operating system requirements.

We’ll identify the key players in your industry and make a detailed comparison of similar software titles that are currently on the market, as well as determine what went wrong with similar applications that wound up failing, assuming any exist.

 

Survey Your End Users

We need cold, hard facts from your end users, so we will create surveys to find out what they need, what they don’t want and what features they wish existed today to help them get their work down.

The more feedback we can get, whether through questionnaires, online reviews and other market research techniques, the better we can envision the best way to design your new application.

UCRYA is known for being a software development company that conducts SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to our customers’ applications, so we can place you at a competitive advantage and make sure you get the best value for what you spend.

 

Design

When your organization outsources software development to the team at UCRYA, you will have at your service a team of highly creative and motivated designers who have years of experience creating world-class applications quickly and efficiently.

After determining the scope of your project and collecting the requirements and special information and instructions from your stakeholders, we will begin by prototyping the application. Prototyping is essential for the design phase, as it lets us identify what’s working right before we dive into the programming. It also gives you an opportunity to adjust your requirements.

Our designers take software specifications and turn them into models that show the complete system architecture, the user interface, specifics on the data structures and other components. You can rest assured that our leaders perform quality checks during each stage of design, so we are always working from a strong base.

You are likely arranging for software/application solutions not just because of the excellent return on investment you receive, but also the access you get to the finest programming minds in the industry.

As a highly streamlined software design company, we don’t waste time reinventing the wheel. When design patterns have worked well in the past and become industry best practices, we implement them accordingly to save you time and money.

Consistency is another key component of our design process. The result is that you get an intuitive and cohesive navigation and control system for your application that end users will appreciate.

From menu structures to color choices to the best placement of tools and how data is presented and manipulated, our team structures the design so that it can easily be modified should the need arise. We also continue with quality checks throughout the design process.

Designers work at an abstract level, so they can focus on the bigger concepts without getting bogged down in procedural details that will be handled by the programmers.

2. Software Product Development

UCRYA is an experienced destination for your SaaS-based application

do for your end users, you may not yet have settled on the details. This is the point where collaboration between your organization and the team at UCRYA begins.

We take pride in being a vibrant software development company that our customers can rely on for industry-specific expertise and knowledge of the competitive landscape.

When you choose UCRYA, you get a quicker time to market or a faster in-house deployment of your new application, confident that the software has been thoroughly tested during each phase of development.

For example, our team will make suggestions about the most appropriate user interface, the best design for your database (should one be needed) and what is the most suitable architecture for the project. Each of these aspects gives us an opportunity to address your competitors’ software deficiencies so we can build a much more viable product for your end users.

 

What are Your Goals for the Software?

As your partner in software product development, we will assist you in determining the business need for your application. This includes doing market analysis and discovering what opportunities might exist for you in the context of competing applications and where they fall short of excellence.

Our team has expertise in all aspects of software product development, from design, engineering, quality assurance, manufacturing, marketing, sales, distribution, and installation.

We will go over your strategic goals and will be happy to offer advice to help you achieve these objectives.

 

Experience

When you arrange for software/application solutions, you deserve to work with a highly experienced team. UCRYA hires some of the best computer engineers, and our reputation makes us a highly desirable place to work, enabling us to attract the brightest individuals.

We have taken on many software projects for companies both big and small, and our staff devotes all of its energies to each application we develop. Without our clients, our work would certainly have no meaning. Our devotion to our clients’ increased success is just one of the many reasons why UCRYA gets so much referral and repeat business.

 

Highly Creative and Motivated

You need a software product that offers customers something they’ve never seen before but have been wishing for all along. Our creative team is highly motivated to come up with a way to make your application unique and therefore more appealing to potential end users.

If positioning your software’s capabilities in the marketplace is less of an issue, such as when developing an application designed solely for in-house use, you can rest assured that what we develop will still be highly engaging and will help your employees do their jobs more effectively.

After all, your internal users are “customers” in the sense that they need to get on board with your software instead of merely putting up with using an inferior product. We will see to it that your software product works flawlessly, has a seamless interface and will give you a great ROI no matter if you are deploying it only inside your company or intend to sell it to the world.

 

Best Practices

When you outsource software/application solutions, you should know that UCRYA follows all best practices, from concept to delivery. We are a software design company that knows just how crucial it is to follow industry standards.

Our team is devoted to making sure the software “flows” properly, in terms of the user experience. After brainstorming and doing competitive analysis, we deploy rapid prototyping until you and your stakeholders sign off on the project parameters and design.

Through each stage of software product development, we implement rigorous safety checks and test the software to ensure a high level of performance.

Your software product development manager at UCRYA will remain in close communication with you during the entire process.

 

Bringing Your Software Product to Market

There’s no point in developing top-notch software if the word doesn’t find out about it. Our software product development cycle doesn’t conclude with delivering the final version of your application.

The professionals at UCRYA will create a comprehensive marketing strategy to help you sell more of your product, using the most popular social media channels, search engine optimized websites and other opportunities to get your brand more exposure.

3.Product Re-engineering

Re-engineer your existing software to meet your new business goals with UCRYA

If you have a software product that has served you well over many years but no longer meets your current needs, the best approach for is to arrange for a re-engineering of the app rather than starting over from scratch. It often proves efficient and cost effective to re-engineer outdated software.

Our developers have experience helping clients re-engineer their software to better meet their new business goals or to address a shift in their workforce.

For example, if your software involves healthcare and new industry guidelines or governmental regulations have been introduced since the application was first developed, you will likely find it more suitable to re-engineer the software.

Or, perhaps your organization is now working with team members spread out in various locations instead of staying at the home office, and you need to integrate new collaboration tools with your core software capability. In such cases, automatic reporting modules, virtual whiteboards and other features may be just what you need.

These are just a few use cases where organizations will find it profitable to re-engineer software with the help of an offshore software design company. Once your stakeholders have determined that it’s to your advantage to begin the re-engineering process, it’s time to outsource software development with the creative team at UCRYA.

 

Situations that Warrant Software Re-engineering

This list is by no means exhaustive. It is intended to show you common situations that you may be facing as you prepare to have your software re-engineered. The team at UCRYA has experience helping clients deal with these situations and more.

  • You need your code to be restructured by experienced, creative professionals.
  • Your legacy systems no longer meet your organization’s core needs.
  • New international business opportunities are prompting you to convert your software to a new language.
  • You are transitioning to a new platform.
  • Business changes dictate that you migrate an application to the web with a robust client-server system.
  • Malware has you concerned that your application is vulnerable to outside threats.
  • Your employees or end users have been putting up with a clunky, ugly interface that hampers their efforts rather than supporting them.
  • It’s time to port an application to a new system.
  • You need to integrate software with current enterprise software.
  • Your documentation is substandard, and you need the work re-done.
  • Regulations concerning privacy indicate you need to add strong encryption capabilities to your software.
  • Your goal is to become platform-independent with your software.

 

UCRYA’s Re-engineering Services

Our talented team will begin by assessing the software that you need to migrate. After you transfer all necessary information to us, we will conduct research on your preferred platform and any other technology that the application must support.

  • Specifications

Nothing starts until we determine the precise specifications of your software re-engineering project. We will research the data domain and provide you with the details to approve. The new specifications will take the best aspects of the old version of the software and integrate them with your new requirements.

  • Planning

At this point, our team is selecting the architecture, coming up with the protocols for user interaction and verifying the specifications for each module in the application. We also start prototyping the software to give your stakeholders the information they need to sign off on the work to be done.

  • Implementation

We go over the system specifications, allocating team members for software development and re-coding, arranging for details such as a new menu system and additional modules for new features. Throughout this process, project managers are inspecting the code and making sure there are no bugs or other problems. You can remain confident that quality assurance is on our minds always as we re-engineer your application.

  • Optimization

Before we hand the software to you, our team will verify that it’s optimized and properly tuned for your systems.

  • Documentation

As one of top software/application solutions companies, we have years of experience producing accurate documentation for our clients. To that end, our programmers, who have excellent English skills, will describe the system architecture, write up detailed source code descriptions and provide all required in-code comments.

4.Maintenance and Support

Go for our software maintenance and support services to keep your business hassle free

You’ve made a significant investment of time and resources in your software. Now you need to take steps to ensure that you get the best ROI by outsourcing your software maintenance and support. When arranging for application development, such as through the talented team at UCRYA, you should also know about the software maintenance services we provide to our clients.

We offer a full range of support services to meet your company’s needs. What we provide is especially crucial for organizations that are finding the cost of IT to be prohibitive for continued in-house service. For them, it makes eminent sense to forge a partnership.

Software maintenance can require a great deal of time and resources, and when such services are in short supply domestically, savvy business owners know just how beneficial it can be to outsource maintenance and support. You can improve your efficiency and lower the costs associated with research and development needed to improve your software over successive iterations when you partner with UCRYA’s team of creative experts.

We are a software design company that takes pride in our vibrant corporate culture and the many talented individuals who provide development and maintenance services to our satisfied clients.

Our Pledge to You:

  • We will respond quickly to your requests for service and information.
  • Our team will strive to give you the least downtime.
  • We stay on top of developments in the software industry to guarantee that we will maintain your application according to the latest professional standards.
  • UCRYA will go the extra mile to provide the highest level of customer service.
  • Aspects of Software Maintenance and Support
 
Excellent Support

Whether you need additional support in terms of troubleshooting software anomalies or run into a bug that hinders your team from getting their work done in a timely fashion, our support team is standing by to lend a hand.

We provide support services for a variety of organizations and applications, from small-to-medium businesses to major enterprises seeking to benefit from the cost savings achieved through offshore assistance.

 

Corrective Maintenance

UCRYA’s alert and diligent team will go over your software, examining and testing it for problems such as design mistakes (confusing user interface, errors in the menus, and so on), errors in logic and fundamental problems in the code.

We have years of experience troubleshooting poorly performing applications and can quickly remedy any problems that have arisen.

 

Adaptive Maintenance

Many issues come into play that requires an organization to begin an adaptive maintenance program. Your application may not work as well as it used to because you have upgraded your computers or other mission-critical pieces of hardware.

Changes in regulations are another motivation for adaptive maintenance. If you are changing the data format you use, it’s most certainly time to call for this service. We also can help you when you need to integrate a new operating system or must update any supporting utilities, as these changes can reduce the effectiveness of your application.

 

Preventative Maintenance

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, the saying goes, and this applies to complicated software. It’s far better to monitor how your software is functioning now and nip any emerging problems in the bud.

What are your end users saying about how the software is currently functioning? If you have been receiving many similar complaints or are experiencing a return of problems that you thought had already been taken care of in the code, it may signal the time for preventative maintenance.

We will fix your software, not just for your immediate needs, but to ensure that it will run properly going forward as your organization’s needs change.

 

Perfective Maintenance

Software maintenance often involves monitoring the application and its ecosystem to strengthen the application before real problems arise. We may restructure the code in keeping with the latest industry standards, for example, make some minor modifications, delete sections, insert new code or otherwise make changes to enhance its functionality.

To that end, our team will conduct research and then design and implement any new features you need as we bring your software closer to perfection during regular maintenance cycles.

 

On Call When You Need Us

We are well known in the industry amongst organizations needing to outsource software development, and we want you to know that we offer the same level of expertise and skill when it comes to providing support and software maintenance services.

Whether you communicate with our team via video chat, phone, email or text, you will have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you will have the best support for your software. Please feel free to contact us for details.

5. Testing and QA

Comprehensive testing services for a glitch free software. Consult our app testing and QA team today!

At UCRYA, we take pride in our expertise and experience in developing, maintaining and testing software. Our Quality Assurance protocols ensure that our customers have the best possible version of their software in a timely manner. The faster your software works and the easier it is for your end users to work with, the greater your ROI.

You expect the best return on your investment in the software your company relies on. Therefore so many organizations turn to UCRYA as their preferred software development company. The financial benefits of partnering with an offshore developer are clearly superior when you consider the expense involved in working with domestic developers, especially when there is a lack of available, qualified talent in your local area.

As an eminent company offering software/application solutions, our team is motivated to give you the best possible QA and software testing services. We have verified and validated extremely complex software for numerous clients, and our expertise in this area helps us get the job done faster and more efficiently.

You may never have had your software properly tested because you were running short on time or otherwise lacked the resources to conduct a thorough test. Now, however, as your organization has matured, and more is on the line, you have found that it is imperative to do a complete software test and perform QA to make sure major problems don’t crop up. Failure to do so could cripple your business.

We will scour your source code, examine your database and identify the highest priority fixes that need to be made, and then report back to you.

 

Getting Started with QA and Software Testing

The team at UCRYA will carefully prepare and plan for testing. We set up a suitable testing environment for the duration, develop the test case and then begin with functional testing to verify that the application works on a fundamental level. We also perform integration tests and regression tests.

Wherever we can automate the testing process, we use sophisticated tools to achieve the objective as efficiently as possible.

UCRYA’s team uses the latest automated solutions for helping test in a variety of modes, including regression tests, functional tests and tests on each deployment of a build.

We follow the Agile methodology, as we find it gives our team the best flexibility in doing development, QA and testing.

 

Fundamental Testing

We offer functional testing on all our software, confirming that it will be compatible with your hardware and peripherals, for example, as well as with other software that is critical to your core business tasks.

Our team is well versed in using standard technologies to perform our tests and we customize our tools on an as-needed basis.

You should also note that we routinely perform API testing as part of our software quality assurance, to verify that your main software will communicate properly with other applications.

  • Testing for Software Integration

Your applications don’t typically function in a vacuum, and we will test for software integration upon request. We use state-of-the-art testing tools in keeping with industry best practices.

  • Multiple Platforms? No Problem

We support multiple platform testing and will rigorously test for usability, speed, reliability and your other core business requirements.

  • After QA and Testing

After testing is finished, you should know that we will continue to provide you support and can assist you with documentation.

When you outsource software development, you expect to get better results than what you would achieve with developers in your own country. Our team is fluent in English, so communication will never be an issue (you may have experienced a steep language barrier in your previous efforts to outsource software development and QA).

We make a point of only hiring the most capable programmers and designers, and every member of our team has the passion and commitment to the tasks at hand to come up with creative methods for putting your software through its paces. This is all part of our quest for perfection.

With a faster QA process and fastidious ongoing testing, you can remain confident that your time to market will come faster when you align with our software design company over any other developer. We only succeed when our customers succeed, and we are highly motivated to provide you with a depth of knowledge and sophisticated testing unavailable elsewhere.

 

TECHNOLOGIES

MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGIES

Software Solutions company UCRYA efficiently applies Microsoft technologies to offer profitable solutions & services to our customers. UCRYA has proven itself as a reliable and professional Microsoft software developer. We create Microsoft applications.

ORACLE TECHNOLOGIES

Software Solutions company UCRYA efficiently applies Oracle Applications to offer profitable solutions & services to our customers. UCRYA has proven itself as a reliable and professional Oracle resources. We create Oracle applications.

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SAP TECHNOLOGIES

Software Solutions company UCRYA efficiently applies SAP Applications to offer profitable solutions & services to our customers. UCRYA has proven itself as a reliable and professional SAP resources. We create SAP applications.

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ALL OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES

Software Solutions company UCRYA efficiently applies Open Source Applications to offer profitable services to our customers. UCRYA has proven itself as a reliable and professional Open Source resources. We create Open Source applications.

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MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES

Software Solutions company UCRYA efficiently applies Mobile Applications to offer profitable services to our customers. UCRYA has proven itself as a reliable and professional Mobile resources. We create Mobile applications.

WEB DESIGN

Design – We require a page can explain about designing (UI/UX apps icons would be great)

We don’t design an interface; we craft an experience.

Experience isn’t about superficial appearance, it’s about the product’s personality. Experience isn’t how you think people will use your product, it’s about how your customers emotionally connect with your product. Experience isn’t static, it flows with time. Experience isn’t a wireframe, it’s about strategy. We love what we do. We love to partner with people who care about human experience of their products.

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HEAR

Phase 1: Discover the Opportunity

Human beings are a complicated species!

Experience isn’t deaf. It’s about your users. They are humans. They have needs. They have emotions. They have desires. They carry an attitude towards life. They need to have a good reason to change the way they do things. And it’s important we listen to them.

  • User Research
  • Field Studies
  • Stakeholder Interviews
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Card Sorting
  • Contextual Inquiry
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LEARN

Phase 2: Define the Problem

Human ecosystems are complex!

Experience isn’t just about your users. It’s much broader than that. It’s like a chain of things. It’s about their families. It’s about their friends. It’s about how they socialize. It’s about complex decision making. It’s about an emotional journey of your users. And it’s important we map out how these ecosystems work.

  • Personae
  • Ecosystem Mapping
  • Empathy Mapping
  • Journey Mapping
  • User Stories
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IDEATE

Phase 3: Design the Solution

Fail ideas spawn in thin air, promising ideas are based on facts!

Experience isn’t about coming up with wildest of design ideas. It’s about a factual decision making. It’s about translating what we learnt into a promising design direction. It’s time to conceptualise a strong foundation for your product.

  • Design Concepts
  • Information Architecture
  • Structural Design
  • Product Strategy
  • Concept Testing
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CREATE

Phase 4: Deliver the Product

Great design is more science, than art!

Experience isn’t just about beauty. It’s about crafting designs that matches the cognitive limits of human minds. It’s about crafting a natural conversation with your users through your product. It’s about making your users feel welcome when they use your product. It’s about creating a romance between your product and it’s users.

  • Interaction Design
  • Visual Strategy
  • Visual Design
  • Micro interactions
  • Prototypes
  • Usability Testing

What we do

DESIGN AS A SOLUTION

PRODUCT STRATEGY

We help you with research. We present you factual insights. We help you conceptualize design solutions. We help you ideate. Together, we build a strong strategy for the product.

USER INTERFACE DESIGN

We help you with designs. We demonstrate how they look, and how they work. We help you design a scalable structure. We design for mobile and the web. We help you with pixel perfect style guides and interface specifications, down to the last pixel. 

IDENTITY DESIGN

Your product might be feature-rich with high-end technologies. But your brand is what people will remember you by. A brand is not just a name or a logo. It is who you are to the world. We help you define your brand with thoughtful insights and an awesome customer experience.

 

Naked Facts

Facts, Beliefs, Trivia

“Be ready to tell us. Hey guys, Hold on. Stop overthinking about a problem”.

Refresh for more

Design stories

We learn, We share

 

UX RESEARCH

eCommerce Shopping Cart — No. of items or Cart Value?

Shopping cart has become the name of the game for e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, or for any e-retailer that you can think of. It has become a common experience metaphor used widely in the online world.

However, the way the cart’s behavior is modelled isn’t always the same. There are subtle nuances (not very apparent as you shop) that often vary across these sites.

Recently, we were designing an experience for a mobile application that allowed sports fans to order snacks & drinks inside a basketball stadium. It’s like you are watching a game in the stadium, cheering for your team, emotions are high, and you would like to order something to munch on as you watch the game. Well, from an experience perspective, understanding the environment was crucial to craft the right experience. Like considering the implications of fans cheering on their teams, noise levels inside the stadium, not so well-lit arenas, the game being the central part of their focus, etc. This blog isn’t going to talk about all the design considerations, but will talk about something small, which turned out to be a brain teaser.

This app, as it turned out, had a CART metaphor, again! One of these subtleties was the choice between showing the number of items in the cart v/s the total cost of the cart, or both? Well, sounds like we never notice this when we shop online, but yes, we wanted to ensure the design decisions follow a strong rationale, no matter how small the decision was. Also, we didn’t want to copy somebody, just because “they did it like that…”.

There has been a lot of discussion on this topic, some advocating that we show both pieces of information while others suggesting that either no. of items or the cart value should suffice. Certainly, each approach comes with its own rationale.

Our study led us to settle down to show ONLY the number of items in the cart, and not the total cost of the cart, and here’s why:

Cart concept is a borrowed concept. It started from the e-commerce domain. The shopping behavior in websites like amazon is different from what we had in our case. Amazon (or any other e-commerce marketplace) for instance, will have an extensive portfolio of products. Our app. on the other hand was going to have a shallow menu to choose snacks and drinks from.

Number of Items (yes, our choice):

Our portfolio of items/menu was shallow. It’s wasn’t like amazon where users will spend maybe half an hour or more to go and browse, pick up stuff. Another thing to notice is people don’t buy multiples (of the same product) on amazon. You won’t buy (usually) 3 MacBook’s at the same time, and then add 3 more iPhones over it. And that’s the same reason you won’t see the choice of many items when you are picking up the item on such sites.

In our case, it was different. It’s more about quickly browsing the menu, and one of the primary actions was to add multiples of the same item (imagine you going to the stadium to watch a match with your family and friends). Multiple burgers, beers will most likely end up in your cart.

We thus made the feedback of adding an item (or its multiples) very clear by associating the action with its implications on the cart. Like every tap bounces the cart and the number increments.

Another question, should 4 burgers, 2 fries = 6 items or 2 items. Seems like not a big deal, but something to ponder on. We went for the initial choice (i.e. 6 items) since the action of adding an item is closely tied up with its implication on the cart. The feedback sets up a good mental model and shows how this thing works (and the number of items you end up picking at the pickup counter).

Price of the Cart:

Here we tried to answer a higher-level question, which was to think about the importance of the cart icon on the top-right of the screen (something common you see). At a very high level, the cart sits there mainly to give a sense that there is something there to be checked out. Showing total price of items along with the cart doesn’t seem to offer too much of value. Will users not order if the cart shows $30 instead of $28? It’s an in-stadium experience, users are not going to care too much about the final cost of the cart. It’s like you going to a theater to watch a movie. Will you not buy popcorns for 5 times their regular price? And not to mention we were levying a few dollars of the convenience fee. Cost doesn’t seem to thus make too much sense along the cart icon in this experience.

We finally agreed on this equation:

We show number of items (4 burgers2, 2 fries) = 6 items

We ensure the interactions (like cart bounces) + visual emphasis (we can further highlight the cart for e.g. once items are added)

Although the spatial position of the cart is evident and common, we can include with it a forward chevron to give a sense of further navigation to the checkout screen.

Well, something small, but turned out to be quite a brain teaser. Certainly, this equation might turn out to be different in the context of what you are designing for. Thinking about these subtleties, after all makes the whole difference.

UX SURGERIES

Interesting Differences in B2B v/s B2C World

User experience design has really got deep into both enterprise and the consumer digital world. This has resulted in some interesting observations in terms of how product owners respond to UX services, depending on whether the product undergoing UX surgery falls into B2B or a B2C category.

Let’s Talk B2B Products: This landscape is changing and changing fast. Competition is aggressive, and B2B companies have realized UX can give them an edge in the competitive landscape. Consumerization of UX is on the roll; product owners no longer want to continue with the ugly face of their products. They are open to design companies who can perform a complete UX surgery on their products. They are open to revisit the product strategy, they are open to relook at the information architecture, they are really open to a new freshness UX designers bring on the table. In short, they want to simplify the legacy which has grown into a beast. Unlike in the B2C world, enterprise product owners have a slight advantage. Their users are ‘paid’ to use the product. Whether the surgery is forced down-the-throat of the end users or is welcomed by them, they do not have an option to refuse. Keeping the pessimism aside; 99.9% times a UX surgery is like fresh air and takes the user experience to the next level.

Let’s Talk B2C Products: This is a different landscape altogether, and for a good reason. It’s all about money, it’s about revenues. It’s like touching a live wire. Consumers have all the reasons to switch to competing products without a second thought. In such a context, you’ve got to be careful. B2C product owners, for this reason, are normally apprehensive about design revamps. Nobody wants to see a negative impact on their customer base.

As a UX consultant, this game can pose some new challenges in front of you. You can get too constrained to try out new things. In such cases, it’s your responsibility to educate your clients about possible ways to make the transition happen, to rationalize your design suggestions. It’s up to you to know the rules of the game, strategize the transition. To help your client meet the business objectives and grow their customer base, and progressively transition the existing customers to the new experience. Technically, a B2C design project should place more emphasis on user research, validation and testing techniques like concept testing, A/B testing, in qualitative or quantitative forms. These activities should find a proper presence in the design roadmap. After all, the facts derived from quantitative and qualitative research/testing techniques should inform how you transition the users to a new experience, and still meet the business objectives.

 

 

WEB APPLICATIONS & WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

Developing productive, engaging, secure web applications with cross-browser compatibility and a responsive design (to work on mobile, tablet and desktop) are our specialty.

People’s working hours are no longer 9 – 5, Monday to Friday. They expect to be able to work and access information from a company when they need if from wherever they are; a web app offers companies a flexible, cost-effective way to meet this need. From a streamlined version of your internal system to increase the efficiency of remote or travelling employees, to an interactive tool to help build brand loyalty with your customers; a web app can deliver.

 

About web apps

A web app is a software program that you use with an internet browser, in the same way that a mobile app is a software program that you use on your mobile device.

The last few years have seen a proliferation of web apps. Their popularity is most likely due to their ease of use: they’re accessible by anyone with a browser connected to the internet, they cater to the needs of mobile users (important as smartphones are now the main way that people access the internet), and they can be deployed quickly and with almost no installation needed from the user.

 

How we can help you

Whether you need an internal web application to help manage staff expenses, a web app that you can re-sell to your clients or one that’ll revolutionize your customer service, we’ll work with you to quickly and intelligently build a powerful, intuitive web app that your target audience will want to use.

From there, it’s a simple process that starts with us sitting down with you to understand your business, what your new app needs to be able to deliver and to whom. If you’d like us to, we’ll also suggest a few of our own ideas – we love coming up with fresh solutions that really make the technology work hard! Possible options include:

  • a hosted web app with a remote, local, synchronized or multi-tenanted database back-end
  • a mix of hosted front-end, back-end and supplier/client portal systems
  • a web app that includes a comprehensive CRM back-end
  • a web app that compliments a new website or your existing one
  • a web app that’s integrated with a back-end payment processing system

As an example, we’ve created web apps that:

  • enable users to add new fields, define drop-down boxes, create new forms and generate custom-reports as required
  • automate day-to-day administration, including processing data, billing, reporting, printing and maintenance
  • take daily data feeds from multiple databases to ensure the app always uses correct, up-to-date customer information
  • use visual cues – such as a percentage bar to show progress, and color to highlight incomplete data fields
  • contain in-built self-help functions to limit the number of enquiries received
  • use permissions according to an individual’s role and access rights
  • are e-commerce enabled – allowing you to take payments
  • provide comprehensive and visually intuitive reports and charts
 

Responsive web applications

As you’d expect, all the web applications we build are “responsive”. This means they look great and work perfectly on any screen size: a desktop pc, tablet or mobile phone. We do this by adapting menus, controls and other visuals to fit the device based on the current screen width & height, ensuring the user always gets the best possible experience regardless of what device they’re using. You can see this in action by resizing the window on this website or visiting it on your smartphone – see how everything “just works”.

 

Is a web app right for my company?

The benefits of a web app over a native mobile app are:

  • Discoverability – because web apps appear in the results pages of search engines, they are much easier for people to find than Mobile Apps which you must visit an App store to find.
  • Installation – rather than having to visit an App Store and download an app which takes up storage space, a web-app can be found via search and bookmarked without taking up space on your device.
  • Flexibility – Unlike a mobile app, a web app isn’t device-specific, it can be viewed on a mobile, tablet or desktop PC.

Web apps do of course have limitations, such as the inability to access the complete range of device-specific features – if you want certain features in your app, e.g. the ability to tell which direction you’re facing in a compass app (for which you’ll need the phone’s accelerometer), you’ll need a mobile app.

You also can’t use a web app if you don’t have an internet connection, although browser caching does offer the possibility of offline functionality. Web apps are also slower to load than mobile apps.

If you’re not sure what type of business app you need, we’re happy to talk you through the pros and cons of each and help you decide which makes the most sense for your objectives, audience and budget. It may be that a mixture of both mobile and web app functionality would work best for you; in these cases, we can offer a hybrid of the two.

 

Technology and process

As a process web application solution, we use All Open Source tools, Web Application tools, Microsoft tools to build our customers’ web apps.

At the front end, we use browser based technologies. We combine the very best technical platforms, for the back-end database. We also have expertise in advanced scripting – the scripts that create interactivity on a web app or web page.

We can also work with MySQL systems and Oracle, if preferred.

We know that trying to visualize your finished web app is a big ask, so from early in the project, we’ll create a prototype that we’ll update throughout the process. This enables you and other stakeholders to ‘play’ with the app along the way and flag any design or functionality that isn’t quite right.

 

After your web app is live

Once we’ve delivered your web app, we’ll:

  • Fully transfer the Intellectual Property (IP) Rights to you.
  • offer full training on your web app, on site or at our offices in Farnborough and London. Our web apps are intuitive, so you shouldn’t need it, but it’s there if you’d like it
  • provide an optional ongoing support service, including an agreed service level agreement (SLA) and access to our in-house developers via our help desk
  • offer optional hosting, we’ve heavily invested in a secure, scalable and lightning fast infrastructure with industry leaders, Rackspace – it’s a handy service if you’d rather not get involved with installing specialist server hardware

For more information on all the things that we offer as part of our service, look at our Working with Us page.

If you’d like to have a chat about whether your business could benefit from a web app, give our team a call or email at info@ucrya.com / 407-362-7691.