Digital Payments Company

Klika develops a robust mobile app for a recognizable digital payments company with millions of users. How we turned a project experiment into a long-term solution for the client.

Klika solutions

How we did it

1. We introduced Lean/startup methodology for the mobile app team and relied on self-organization for efficient performance

The team was formed around the idea of Lean Startup to ease processes and organize the work and the team. Klika assigned a Product Owner who was responsible for communication with the client, defining requirements and negotiating priorities for the MVP. Team organization and the way they worked together was handled solely by Klika and the PO without the client having any impact on that. Self-organization was key in this project to efficiently deliver results.

2. We created a Project Charter to keep up with requirements and deadlines

Prerequisite for the team’s success was a clearly defined Project Charter, which was created by the Product Owner, as the first step of the process. The Project Charter contained requirements and the scope for the MVP, together with priorities and deadlines. In that way, the Klika team enabled the client to transparently monitor the progress of the work. The chosen timeframe for delivering the MVP was three months.

3. We chose Scrum as a framework to simplify processes and create an effective roadmap

For the team to be effective, they needed streamlined and simplified processes together with a transparent roadmap and prioritized backlog. SCRUM was selected as a framework and one-week long sprints in order to have a short feedback loop.

4. Work was split into three threads

Work was split into three threads in order to manage dependencies between different parts of the project.

a.) The first thread was UI/UX design which was set out one or two sprints before mobile applications development. With this strategy, designs were always ready and approved before actual development took place.

b.) The second thread was API specification which was also defined before mobile apps development. Refactoring of legacy systems to support new API was not part of the scope since it would have been a significant effort, so the team decided to create a mock API based on the specification. Mock API provided just enough functionality for building the MVP.

c.) The third thread was mobile application development. The team used native technologies for building Android and iOS applications. To provide an agile development environment, Microsoft App Center was used for continuous integration and delivery to provide efficiency and transparency on all levels. To provide high quality of the solution, detailed code reviews were performed on a regular basis.

5. We used the same design language already in use by the client to match the client's brand and keep it recognizable

The mobile applications were designed using the client's design language, so they share the same look and feel as the rest of client facing applications. New UX ideas introduced in mobile design inspired improvements on existing web applications, especially for mobile devices.

6. QA was assigned to oversee quality and run automated mobile app testing

The team had a dedicated Quality Assurance expert whose responsibility was keeping the quality of the product on a highest possible level. Even though the project was an experiment, the Klika team wanted to create a solid foundation for future development in case the project succeeded. To speed up testing and keep quality on the highest level, the team implemented a framework for automated mobile applications testing, which was a part of the continuous integration pipeline.

The benefits

The first and most obvious benefit for the digital wallet client was a working concept of the mobile application for one of their core products. It extended the product with new, mobile specific functionalities and started the domino effect that initiated improvements efforts across several legacy systems.

Another benefit was the API specification written for the purposes of mobile apps. The specification was well designed, and it can be used as a starting point for refactoring legacy systems. Once the API was implemented, mobile apps could just be plugged in and they would work.

After only three months, the client got a fully onboarded team of experts with low risk involved. While working in a sandbox, the Klika team learned about the client's existing products, In-App Provisioning and other mobile features, which came in handy for future projects and products.

The way the Klika team worked together and organized themselves to be more effective, inspired the client's entire organization to simplify processes and become more agile.

The end result was that the client got a robust mobile applications development environment, with an automated testing framework and continuous integration and delivery in place.

The team working on MVP was integrated into the client's inhouse tech team and works to this day on products for the client. Meanwhile, the client merged with another big player in the fintech payment industry and Klika was appointed the key software development partner to build and design a new platform from scratch for the client's users.