Givingli
Your best greeting card app
The client wanted to create a simple service for sending electronic greeting cards and invitations to the holidays. This was our stepping stone.
We started the project by discussing various ideas and the best ways to implement them. That's how we've come to the current product version: the application with a lot of cool features.
We developed the Givingli project from scratch, including UI/UI design, software architecture development with the support of cloud scaling due to numerous active online users, and thorough testing.
And although the application runs on the iOS platform, its users can create and send greeting cards to the owners of Android devices either.
Our UI/UX team developed the first version of the app design. It looked modern, trendy, and met all the requirements. The client accepted our concept and used it for a long time.
However, any digital product is like a living creature, which is constantly changing, and this also applies to its visual component. That's why Givingli's design keeps evolving (while remaining basically recognizable).
And although subsequent design releases were created by the client's in-house team (the one that illustrates electronic greeting cards), they're all based on our original concept.
What was the source of our inspiration?
When creating the design, we focused on market leaders and main UI/UX trends. Also, our team carefully studied the references our client provided us with to show examples of what he liked.
What was the key design goal?
It was important to create a design that would appeal to the target user. And since we're talking about an online greeting card maker, the goal was a simple, clear interface, nothing extra to distract the attention. After all, greeting cards are vivid and colorful by themselves, no additional brightness is required.
What did we get in the end?
We can safely say that we’ve developed almost the best greeting card application with a modern user-friendly design and an intuitive interface.
Auto-scaling system
As you can imagine, the Givingli project is most actively used on holidays when everyone feels like sending a greeting card (or a gift) to a friend. Alas, an unexpected influx of users can cause problems in the smooth software operation. To avoid this, we've implemented a special auto-scaling system that is activated during the holidays (for example, Mother Day or Christmas).
How does it work?
The application is powered by Amazon servers. And when the load rises to 70% or more, Amazon's system automatically allocates additional resources to keep Givingli running smoothly.
Also, there is a special service for monitoring the current system status. And if the servers don't respond (or something else unexpected happens), this service immediately notifies our team. Thus, we can respond without delay and solve the problem as soon as possible.
Snapchat integration
The popular Snapchat app also commended the Givingli project and found it inspiring enough to start collaborating with the team. The goal was to supplement Snapchat's functionality with Givingli-like features.
iOS dev stack
- Swift
- Push notification
- Firebase
- Segment Analytics
- Stripe & Apple Pay
- Amazon API
- Gyft and Blackhawk providers for gifts
- Google analytics
Web dev stack
- Ruby on rails / NodeJs
- Many Amazon services (cloud)
- New Relic
- Segment analytics
- Push notification
- Using the third party
- Services Gyft and blackhawk providers
- Stripe, Apple Pay
- Brunch.io
Givingli provides users with a choice of a huge number of unique electronic greeting cards for any occasion. Everyone will be able to find and pick a picture that best suits a particular holiday.
The feature implies that you can create and design your own birthday card, making it unique, different from everything else. The proposed customization options include the possibility to supplement the card with your ideas, sign its reverse side, choose a gift certificate and a virtual envelope, and much more.
This is a very special app feature. It provides a great opportunity to please your loved ones not only with a greeting card but with a gift certificate from a popular store or service attached to it.
Givingli works with wide-known brands such as Adidas, Airbnb, Uber, Sephora, iTunes, and more than 50 other no less illustrious names. An important point: it's up to you to decide how much money to put on a gift card, there are no fixed sums.
