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The Need 

A U.K. automotive valeting company with more than 100 sites has worked with major automotive dealerships across the country to prepare cars for delivery to buyers for more than a decade. The company wanted to improve its services and ensure the quality of the work done by its staff of 600+ employees.

The company decided to develop an iPad “car portfolio” app of photos and videos that would serve as a record of the quality of its cleaning, waxing and other refurbishment services. The app would also serve as an incentive for employees to do a better job, knowing that their work now has greater quality.

The Solution

Choosing Xamarin as the Mobile Platform

The valeting company works with a technology partner that specializes in .Net, so the decision was made to use Xamarin cross-platform mobile app development software, as the platform for the app. Using Xamarin would make maintenance and upgrades faster, easier and less expensive.

Specifications and Definition

The Softjourn team created high-level specifications and also developed an Invision interactive mockup of the app, with the goal of securing the client’s agreement on features and flow before starting development. Getting everyone on the same page ultimately saves development time—and money—going forward, because  it reduces the number of changes to already developed code.

Process and Communication

Both client and Softjourn teams agreed that their communication was excellent throughout the project. That, plus on-time deliverables and frequent feedback, enabled Softjourn to deliver the project on schedule and on budget.

The application was both interesting and challenging. Arguably the most challenging task on the UI side was - to enable custom video shooting with taking photos - all at the same time, while streaming an on-demand instruction video on the other side of the screen with step by step instructions.

“When we met with Softjourn, we were very favorably impressed with the team’s technical expertise. We also believed—and it has proven to be true—that Softjourn understand what it means to partner with its clients and to own the results it produces. This attitude helped differentiate the company from others we met with, and it influenced us to go with them. We have been very pleased with our decision.” - CEO at UK-based software development company

The Benefits

This custom iPad imaging app will help the valeting company provide better service by ensuring that the quality of its work meets the highest standards. It will also differentiate the company from its competitors.