From Outdated to Unrecognizable: How We Transformed CapStorm's Frontend

With their frontend team suddenly short a key player, CapStorm needed developers who could step in quickly, get up to speed, and take genuine ownership of the UI work. The product still needed to move forward, and expectations around user experience were rising, as their platform needed to be approachable for non-technical users, not just the engineers who built it. 

The work ahead involved more than building new features. The existing codebase had accrued technical debt, with patterns and practices that made it harder to maintain and scale. The application was functional but designed with technical users in mind; making it accessible to a broader audience would require rethinking the interface from the ground up.

The timeline for this project was ambitious, and the scope of what needed to be done was significant.

The Solution

UI/UX

Our team hit the ground running with a UI/UX audit. Rather than waiting for tasks to come to us, we reviewed the interface ourselves to identify pain points and opportunities, then turned those findings into a structured set of tickets and cleared them. This proactive approach set the tone for how the engagement would run.

On the technical side, the codebase had significant room to grow. Our engineers identified outdated patterns and areas that could be brought in line with current best practices, and we got to work. 

We refactored the core modules and, as part of the broader effort, initiated an Angular upgrade spanning four major versions. This was not a routine maintenance task; it addressed a number of security vulnerabilities and made the entire UI more responsive and stable. The upgrade was our recommendation, and CapStorm was receptive.

Restore Wizard

In parallel, we worked on the Restore Wizard, a guided, multi-step tool that walks users through restoring their Salesforce data from a backup. The wizard required coordinating closely with CapStorm's backend team, which operated on a separate sprint cycle with its own Jira board. 

To keep the teams moving efficiently, our engineers recommended API documentation tooling like Swagger to ensure the frontend and backend stayed aligned throughout development.

We also established a pre-planning meeting process, where our team reviewed upcoming tickets, prepared questions in advance, and sent them to CapStorm's project manager and tech lead before the main planning session, a straightforward change that reduced time spent in planning meetings.

When a tight deadline for the Restore Wizard came up mid-project, our PM was transparent immediately. We outlined exactly what was achievable within that timeline, proposed ways to increase capacity where possible, and agreed with the client to focus on the MVP scope rather than a fully polished release. The stakeholders were informed throughout, and when the demo finally landed, the reception was enthusiastic.

Project Oversight

One aspect of how Softjourn works that CapStorm hadn't anticipated: we assigned a project manager to the engagement in addition to the two developers requested. Our PM held regular one-on-ones with CapStorm's project manager, facilitated communication across teams, and helped coach Agile practices where they were useful. 

That layer of dedicated project oversight made a real difference in how the work was managed and how the relationship developed. As Softjourn’s project manager put it: "We were not just working; we wanted it to succeed." 

And CapStorm noticed – Jessica Toon, CapStorm's project manager, told us: "We are so happy to have the Softjourn team onboard, you are a great addition to our team."