B2B2B - A service that helps serve clients

It all started with a simple idea... We needed to book a client for an appointment with a specialist (for example, a dentist or a manicurist). It would seem like a task for a couple of hours. But when we carried out detailed design, a huge number of details appeared - about the specialist's schedule, service categories, calendar display, branches for chains, role and permission classification - all of this grew into a complex system that we designed for future projects. One of the projects that required consulting, design, and programming of the service was BestCount. We held detailed consultations and proposed an individual solution.

B2B2B is a product of the ingello company - software that helps companies receive, serve, segment, and discount clients.

The service specializes in companies whose clients are other companies, that is, b2b business-to-business companies, which is why the service is called b2b2b.

Using one of the customers of this product as an example, I will tell you what approach we apply to non-trivial projects, as well as about a complex client chain: imagine - we are writing an application for our client, this application must serve his clients, and his clients are small service businesses that also have clients. Confusing? Yes. Especially in light of the fact that the opinion and vision of convenience in the application of each of these stakeholders must be taken into account to create a truly useful application.

In short, within this project, an application was conceived in which one can register and get access to a verified and trusted network of services of any kind - whether to get a haircut, have veneers installed, get a manicure, or repair a car - any services. And one can not only book services, but also receive bonuses, have a savings account, coupons, and other purchase incentives. Thus, the end consumer receives verified and high-quality services, and even cheaper than the regular price.

On the other hand, various providers of these services can register and pass verification in the application.

This is brief publicly known information, in general terms, because it is impossible to tell all the nuances and aspects of the business idea according to the contract.

Investor consultations

Despite the fact that initially we already had some groundwork (both schematic and software), each such consultation reveals completely unique details that must be taken into account within a complex subject area. First of all, as always, we collected and analyzed the requirements of the project's main investor.

And, as almost always, the investor discovered that the idea, which seemed simple (and indeed, the application was planned to be simple and minimalistic), turned out to be very complex and multifaceted in the technical aspect. That is exactly how it is. The simpler you want to make your product, the harder it is to achieve technically, and the more tangled and non-trivial the scheme hidden from the end consumer under the hood of the external interfaces.

Communications with the client's client

In order not to fantasize without purpose, a so-called expert in the subject area was involved. In this case, it was the owner of a small chain of hair salons (more precisely, barbershops). In conversation with him, we immediately enriched the task list with new ideas and identified new questions. All of this was done on the basis of the problems faced by a company providing beauty services.

Architecture design

Of course, no one ever prevents or forbids starting development right away. And in small projects this makes sense, because their architecture will take shape one way or another and will be sufficient for the time being.

But when a project initially looks complex and confusing, there is no point in starting to code right away, because in 99 out of 100 cases this will lead to a loss of time and money.

The architect's task in this project was to combine the client's requirements, a minimalist interface, and normalize a complex data schema that took into account diverse data without which the intended functionality could not be implemented.

Working with the technical director

The feature and distinction of this project was that it implied the development of a separate service and application, but it was largely connected with another, already existing service. It was being developed by another team, an in-house one. And the company's technical director, who also served as the technical lead of that team, had to immerse us in the specifics of the other applications with which interaction was planned. In particular, those applications had already implemented a billing system, an internal account, discounts, and much more.

We are used to interacting both with the management and technical teams of other companies, so we quickly found common ground and, through calls and screen demonstrations, were able to draw up an integration plan.

Interaction with the designer

Usually we provide our own designer, since the design of complex projects and accounting systems is not the same as landing page design due to its strong overlap with system architecture. In other words, unfortunately, in projects of this kind even a very experienced designer cannot independently make all decisions about the appearance of interfaces, because this lies outside their area of competence. We have many years of experience interacting with design and building design, so we methodically and consistently resolved all so-called interface conflicts. And the professionalism of the client's team designer made it possible to shape and think through an individual style without any problems.

Problems and difficulties

Of course, on this project everything was not as rosy and ideal as it may seem at first glance. Any complex project, any complex system implies conflict. And it depends only on the professionalism of the participants whether this conflict will remain merely systemic and be resolved in due order, or whether it will move to a personal level. Fortunately, experience in project management makes it possible to predict conflict and propose solutions even before it grows into the stage where people start looking not for a technical solution, but for someone to blame.Get ready to immerse yourself in the project personally or indirectly

When ordering a project from us, do not think that everything will be simple. Yes, you may be an investor and not participate in the process, but there are always subject matter experts, project directors, visionaries, or managers on the client's side. After all, someone has to convey the idea, answer questions, take part in briefings, voice requirements, or choose implementation options. We do the entire project from start to finish, beginning with preparing the technical specification, sketches, prototypes, and ending with server configuration. But the main business idea must be read either from the end client who invests the money, or from their trusted representatives: a manager or subject matter expert. Therefore, if you have a million-dollar idea and the work ahead is worth hundreds of thousands, you need to accept that you or your representatives will inevitably need to immerse yourselves in many details. Of course, we are capable of organizing all project processes so that they are interesting, fun, creative, and comfortable, without anything unnecessary, purposefully, and according to the best modern practices and methodologies.

And we always start with a free consultation, to which I invite you.