Europe Union

Spark platform: Taking user experience testing to the next level

Spark platform
eye square needed to find a way to automate the users’ input so that some of the manual work could be done on the company clients’ end, allowing them to tailor their research and surveys to their needs as necessary in an easy, automated way, with the use of only one self-service platform. See how we made it happen.

Who’s our partner?

  • Name: eye  square GmbH
  • Line of business: market research, human experience
  • Founding year: 1999
  • Size: 50-200 employees
  • Country: Germany (Berlin)

What did they need?

“We wanted to develop further our internal product called Spark. Spark Platform allows users to automate marketing surveys. It is the most powerful, implicit user testing platform we run, and we wanted it to be intuitive and self-serviced by the users.”

Michael Schießl, CEO and co-founder

What was our proposition?

  • Frontend
  • Backend
  • Role management system
  • UX design

What was the tech stack?

  • React
  • Java Spring
  • API integrations
  • AWS S3
  • AWS Cognito
  • PostgreSQL
  • Integrations: Tivian (formerly Questback), Dynata
Spark example

Listen to Florian Passlick present Spark.

Watch the video

What did eye square need to create?

eye square needed to find a way to automate the users’ input so that some of the manual work could be done on the company clients’ end, allowing them to tailor their research and surveys to their needs as necessary in an easy, automated way, with the use of only one self-service platform. Before that, they had multiple tools that needed extra work. The first software house they hired couldn’t work on their project, and they ultimately came to us. They needed a platform to automate the research-creation process for their clients made from scratch. It would include the software development of each element of the Spark platform – frontend and backend. The platform needed to allow users to define their profile and group and access their panel. Automating and combining multiple tools into one user-friendly program would allow the company’s clients to manage their resources independently and more effectively.
How did we set our collaboration on the right course?

eye square looked for a partner with the highest competencies and capability of connecting technologies to make a complete and reliable solution. After the initial meetings with the UX designer, we conducted workshop sessions with the client to consult the vision and address necessary questions and issues.

Initially, we met with Matthias Rothensee – the Product Owner. However, our collaboration also involved eye square’s COO, Philipp Reiter. We discussed the specific needs and requirements to get the final blessing from the company’s CEO – Michael Schießl.

After two weeks after the initial meeting, we had a good idea of what needed to be done. An intense working session gave us room to create necessary mockups and a working MVP. The work was divided into sprints, during which we received regular feedback on what was good and what needed improvement.

Who were the experts behind the project?

The team included a business coordinator to manage all the necessary documentation and agreement details (contract, NDAs and such), a technical project manager and a scrum master to translate the eye square’s needs into the backlog used by the UX/UI and development and QA team. 

 

Additional touchpoints included a UX and UI expert and a cross-functional development team covering the DevOps part, backend and frontend, including testing. On eye square’s end, they had a product owner who helped with necessary coordination tasks.

We had:

  • DevOps engineer and solution architect
  • Junior DevOps engineer
  • Backend engineer
  • UX designer

Which technologies and expertise have we applied?

  • Java (with Spring) for backend work
  • React for frontend
  • AWS Cognito helped automate new user registration by sending verification emails
  • AWS S3 service to automate uploading and storing user files in respective files connected with a specific user
  • PostgreSQL for database purposes
  • Tivian (formerly Questback) integration for survey templates and creation
  • Dynata integration for delivering the surveys to the correct type of respondents needed for the survey
  • Additional UX design work
Spark overlay
Review Clutch
First of all, we are very happy with the perfect timing of the project and delivery of the solution we needed. DAC.digital perfectly fit into the time frame proposed and also delivered a set of extra functionalities on top of what was agreed upon before the start. The quality of the code and work, including UX/UI, was spot on.
Philipp Reiter
Partner & COO of eye square GmbH

What were the key metrics of our journey?

  • 874h – total project estimate
  • 3 months – the span of the solution development (March to June 2021)
Spark filing example

What were the necessary steps of implementation?

The project had three iterations, after which the client could use the quarterly time for any extra work:

  1. Creating the platform that allowed the eye square admins to create surveys on behalf of their clients
  2. As an extra feature, our team created the file submitting and storage system
  3. After approximately nine months, the aim was to give the survey creation to the company’s clients so that the users with correct access privileges could create their requests and accept the costs, which were then accepted for them by a project manager on eye square’s end
  4. Adding more survey templates for a more customised and accurate experience
  5. After completion, the client has a pool of 24 hours per quarter for maintenance work or the development of additional features

What was the outcome of the collaboration?

We could design the entire platform as requested, and the client was delighted with the results. We have designed the entire platform and were able to add extra features on top of what we already agreed on. It included adding a role management system that allowed granting the correct level of access based on the user’s role.

eye square was satisfied with the results and impressed with how much we could deliver in the fixed time, scope and budget. They were also happy with the professionalism and good communication the team displayed along the way. All this resulted in them requesting another collaboration on their new project.

The Spark platform was successful, and its current state is fully developed and usable. The company has some working hours from our team every quarter that they can use for necessary maintenance and extra work.

The platform has a varied user base, including big and small companies from different business sectors like banking, insurance or consumer goods.

To this day, eye square representatives consider the platform a huge success and are eager to show it off at public events.

Learn more about eye square in our interview with Michael Schießl and Friedrich Jakobi

Check it out
Review Clutch
Communication and cross-technology and cross-vertical experience and depth of the team that delivered the solution were impressive. They are not only service providers but, first of all — deliver added value on top of what they were asked for, with fresh ideas and suggestions. The process management was impressive. We felt like everything ran smoothly, and finished the project on time, which is also not common!
Philipp Reiter
Partner & COO of eye square GmbH

To know more about our partner’s endeavours, see the Memex Poland 2022 presentation on AI and art at Memex Poland 2022.

Estimate your project

Looking to develop your own blockchain solution? Let us help! Contact us now for a free estimate and let’s get started.
ornament ornament