A time slot booking platform enabling efficient time management across the entire organization.
About the project
When Istituto Marangoni, one of the leading fashion universities in the world, decided to replace their internal IT system, they required a partner experienced with multilingual, multi-location and multi-user systems. Vasterra designed an entirely new system with intelligence and adaptability in mind to cater for current and future needs of various internal and external stakeholders.
Istituto Marangoni offers campuses in 9 different cities around the world, including Milano, London and Mumbai. This global orientation requires a sophisticated, versatile and modern information system. However, having neglected the modernisation of their infrastructure over the years, Istituto Marangoni eventually realized that a comprehensive new system is required to maintain their growth ambitions and their current competitive advantage.
Vue.js
PrimeVue
Laravel
Vuex
PostgreSQL
SalesForce
Lightning Web Components
Project management experience as cornerstone
To successfully deploy a new system in this dispersed organization, the project had to be split into smaller, more manageable subprojects. To that end, we’ve separated the crucial online appointment booking webform for future students seeking information and the system creation itself into two separate projects. To avoid interrupting their lead generation, we prioritised the appointment booking webform.
The brief in more detail
In order to streamline and modernize the booking process, both the frontend as well as the backend required a general overhaul. More specifically, Marangoni had the following requirements
- The webform needs to be created for both mobile and desktop layouts (but 70% of your prospects enter through the mobile version).
- The web form will consist of fill-in fields in different formats (text, phone number, email address, etc.) and drop-down lists, some of the fields are interrelated (one field is not active unless you fill in another filed), there needs to be fields ’validation on the frontend before submitting the web form, there is also a JavaScript-based tracking functionality for marketing purposes.
But developing the web form is only 10% of the work. The main task was to teach the frontend and backend to work together and create a Single Page Application.
Webform must constantly communicate with the back-end to constantly check if there are advisors available for the combinations the student chooses.
the project
Custom Software Development for Fashion Institute
"They’ve done great work and have given us some good suggestions."
the reviewer
Third-party integrations as solution
The former webform for appointment bookings did not enable third-party integrations and, therefore, no direct import of upcoming appointments into Google Calendar nor an automated Zoom link to be sent to the interested, potential student. Vasterra understood that every contact lost at this stage of the student journey may be a student lost forever to competitors.
Due to the outdated technology, an integration of our solution into the old system was seen as not viable. Therefore, we’ve developed an external single page application allowing a smoother transition from the old webform onto the new one while allowing an enriched user experience.
Google Calendar
The integration of google calendar allows each consultant to push online available time slots and students to directly book a suitable appointment. The system keeps itself updated and avoids issues such as overbooking.
Zoom
If a Zoom call is desired by the prospective student, a link is automatically generated and attached to the confirmation email as well as to the google calendar entry for the consultant.
New Event Types
Our integration allows for new event types such as group consultations, webinars, and public discussions. Further, new events such as networking, taster lectures and similar may be added upon desire.
Salesforce
We also integrated Salesforce as the new CRM that handles all requests and integrates the data into the wider IT ecosystem.
Waterfall vs Agile
The client's opinion was that for a project as straightforward as his (simply copying the existing platform), the waterfall will be the go-to approach for project management. Soon after the project kick-off, we received the first feature change request that contradicted the waterfall methodology. Choosing the waterfall methodology, the client hoped to control the project timeline and budget, but in this case, it was this very development methodology that led to the project scope to creep. Halfway through the project, our team persuaded the client to switch to agile methodologies to better accommodate the dynamic requirements and deliver the project successfully. Read here what the waterfall methodology is, why it was inferior in this case and why agile is generally the better go-to methodology.
Future-Proof code enabling longevity of the system
Although employing technical support staff, Istituto Marangoni does not have an in-house development team available. Hence, one of their main requirements was that the system must be extensively documented, the code well commented and any kind of changes to the database as simple as possible in order to keep future maintenance costs low.
We’ve used the most advanced stacks to cater for future technology improvements and enable longevity by design.
Multilingual feature
As Istituto Marangoni has a global presence, they required a feature to easily add new languages to their system. To accommodate potential new languages, we’ve built a custom feature enabling superusers to easily translate content and add it within seconds to the system. Our system architecture enables multilingualism by design and streamlines the workflow across their organization.
Business Intelligence
To date, the full potential of data collected by the system could not effectively be used due to technological limits of third-party integrations as well as complex data extraction processes. Our system has been built to enable efficient data extraction and data analysis. Our developers ensured that the access to data is possible in near real-time and as simple as possible, enabling Istituto Marangoni to adapt their marketing activities to changing trends.
Growth through efficiency
Both subprojects together required more than 880 hours of our team consisting of database specialists, project managers and developers. Istituto Marangoni’s demanding requirements of longevity (desired system lifetime of 10 years) and flexibility enabled us to demonstrate our experience in sophisticated, state-of-the-art system architecture and agile project management. Our implemented solution improved the system uptime to nearly 100% which increased the efficiency of the entire workforce.
We’ve created an extraordinarily rich documentation base to simplify future adaptations of the system by superusers. Istituto Marangoni can now take advantage of the data continually collected, adapt their system as required and steer growth across the world.
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Hours
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System lifetime years
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Improved the system uptime
Mobile Application Development
As a comprehensive solution for Istituto Marangoni's global campuses, apart from designing a new system, Vasterra also developed a sophisticated mobile application to enhance time management efficiency.
The mobile app features advanced functionalities like location-based time slot booking, Google Calendar integration, and seamless user experience. Its modern design and user-friendly interface cater to the diverse needs of both internal and external stakeholders, ensuring a smooth and productive organizational flow.
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Consent
Although only one part of the platform has been released, the client has been satisfied with Vasterra's output so far. The team is keen on fulfilling the project's requirements, proving their dedication. Their skills are further enhanced by their transparency, promptness, and responsiveness.