Challenges
It wasn't simple to develop a feature-filled Super App within 60 days. There were several types of services, each having their own workflow, service logic, and operational needs, such as ride-hailing, intercity bookings, car rental, and delivery pickups, which had to be handled by the platform.
Maintaining a unified look and navigation pattern in place while delivering an uninterrupted user experience on all these services was the key. Scheduling and real-time tracking capabilities added to the extra complexity in development.
We needed to incorporate the whole admin dashboard and the user interface so the client would be able to manage bookings, vendors, prices, and driver assignments. Most importantly, the whole system had to be scalable and flexible enough so that the client would be able to add more services and scale operations in subsequent phases easily.
The client was quick to want an Android-based MVP with the potential for down the road being a success proof of concept for customers and early-stage investors, given that demand for convenience-first platforms is increasing in emerging economies. They challenged Lucent Innovation to a tough mandate: develop, build, and ship a working MVP in 60 days.
Solution
In order to ensure on-time delivery without compromising on quality, our dedicated team of Android developers designed and initiated the project with a roadmap and phased development strategy.
We initiated by prioritizing establishing a firm foundation. To allow for easy integration within a unified app experience, we designed an API-first backend with service block modularity so that we could build each module (riding, rental, and courier) separately.
We then developed the car-rental and ride-booking modules, including multi-step booking workflows, fare calculation, and geo-location tracking. Google Maps SDK was used for real-time location tracking, with Firebase utilized to trigger notifications and simple real-time synchronization.
We then rapidly deployed intercity reservations and courier dispatch. We achieved consistency whilst significantly reducing build time by reusing our modular components. Payment gateways, scheduled pickups, and package size input were all elements of these flows.
We focused on the admin dashboard after the user-side application was up. The React.js-built dashboard offered real-time booking administration, price flexibility, driver addition, and analytical insights.
Last but not least, we shipped the Play Store, executed massive QA cycles, and introduced UI/UX enhancements. Agile sprints, standups, and CI/CD pipelines offered seamless collaboration and timely delivery — MVP was out in 58 days.
