A Case Study:
SnoFolio, Inc
SnoFolio is an alpine sports start-up based in Utah and Vancouver. Their aim was to create a digital learning platform and online lesson portfolio for the ski and snowboard industry. The mobile application allows instructors to record and annotate lesson videos for each student, and the web app syncs the data with a cloud-based database so students can review their performance offline.
DISCOVERY
Because the company had already conducted extensive market research
and built a strong network of industry connections prior to bringing Acorn on board, we got to dive right into the challenge of creating. The brief included a suite of mobile applications: one for ski schools, one for professional training, one for high-performance training. A web app to administer them and a website to market them. We focused on solidifying business requirements and strengthening the branding to ensure consistency across all platforms.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE & USER EXPERIENCE
Building an application meant to be used on a ski hill
in the middle of a lesson presented some unique challenges, and comprehensive user flows paired with extensive on-hill testing proved to be the answer. The UX team also provided a framework for conducting user testing with industry experts, which allowed us to pivot certain features and reprioritize based on what real consumers’ needs were.
DESIGN & PROTOTYPING
Design for each platform needed to serve its unique functionality,
while also creating a consistent thread to guide users through each phase of working with SnoFolio, from making an inquiry all the way to implementing the system at a new resort. It also needed to appeal to two very different potential users: resort administrators and snowsport students.
DEVELOPMENT & DATABASING
As Snofolio is split into different platforms, we had to determine where technologies and features could be shared, and where unique elements were required.
We developed a full component library using Angular.js for the iOS and web applications, with Firebase as the central database. This allowed us to collaborate efficiently with a large multidisciplinary team and avoid doubling up on work. Excellent design and branding elements were delivered with a fully custom Wordpress theme.
We followed an iterative cycle of soft rollouts and customer feedback with a small group of partner resorts, allowing us to test and dial in new features, streamline QA, and continuously improve the product overall.
Conclusions & Insights
Thanks to early collaboration with stakeholders, every feature of the product had been thoroughly tested and vetted by our target audience. Systems are in place for efficiently designing, building and rolling out new features as the company requires. With a soft launch phase, the application was in use and gaining exposure all across the US even before the official rollout to ensure a smooth final release.
Technologies used:
AngularJS, Firebase, Custom WordPress Theming
