Phase 1: Project Analysis and Prototype Development

Ticketmaster wanted to know if Xamarin could deliver results while sharing code across platforms.

Once Softjourn had the full application scope, they began to investigate if Xamarin would meet Ticketmaster’s needs. Softjourn proposed creating a prototype, requiring only a short amount of time and minimum resources.

With a prototype, Ticketmaster could visualize the ticket scanning solution. It would help them decide on whether to proceed with a full-fledged app — or not.

Softjourn set a five-week timeline to create a prototype to show that Xamarin could work with a Linea-Pro device, Janam device, or a bring-your-own-device’s built-in camera for ticket validation. For Xamarin to meet Ticketmaster’s needs, Softjourn had to develop custom components to produce the same look and feel across all platforms.

The prototype showed that Xamarin was viable. Even though there were some UI and design limitations, Softjourn demonstrated that a Xamarin-developed ticket scanning app would require less maintenance than the native applications Ticketmaster was using.

Softjourn also proved that Xamarin could be effectively supported by Ticketmaster's .NET team when there was a need for new features. These two factors significantly reduced both operational costs and required maintenance time.

Softjourn’s prototype for ticket software development included:

Built-in camera ticket-scanning on iOS and Android devices
Ticket scanning via a Linea-Pro barcode scanner
Ticket scanning via one of Janam’s rugged Android devices

With Softjourn’s prototype, Ticketmaster could make an informed decision about moving forward with a full app development project.

The Benefits

Phase 2: Ticket Scanning App Development

With the prototype completed, Ticketmaster gave Softjourn the green light to move forward with developing the ticket-scanning app using Xamarin. The development project took just over one month to complete. Softjourn implemented Ticketmaster’s design and workflow to ensure consistency and a high-quality user experience.

Building basic app features and the following functionality that would support online scanning:

Ability to run on iOS and Android, as well as Janam XM70 rugged handheld units
Initialization and setup
Login and authentication
Scanner association
Set venue
Set entrance
Entry, exit, and history
Recall the last scan

Phase 3: Adding Offline Scanning Functionality

After the successful development of the initial app, Ticketmaster asked Softjourn to develop an offline scanning mode functionality. With offline scanning mode, ticket scanning can continue even when the internet or network connectivity is lost.

Scanned ticket data is stored in the device’s local memory. When connectivity is restored, the data is sent to a server, which updates the database.