Case Study: A Social Network Connecting Dancers From All Over the Globe
Updated 09 Nov 2022
6 Min
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Are you fond of dancing and competing with others or you just love out of the ordinary app ideas? In any case, you might love this app's story. Some time ago we've received a request from the client who wanted to build a tailor-made social network for dancers packed with offbeat features. This project's name is Ayoo Dance and we couldn't miss a chance to dive into details and tell you more about the product development aspects.
In this case study, we unveil the technical approach we've chosen for mobile development as well as the main features of Ayoo Dance.
From idea to first development steps
Even though Ayoo Dance has inherited elements of an ordinary social network -- it's something more. The idea was to connect dancers from all over the world, enable them watching each other's performances and interact with one another despite the distance. For this were introduced multiple features allowing to record a solo or duo dances as well as to battle with other dancers across this social network.
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We'll talk about features later on. But first, we should tell you how our team has approached the project to provide our client with an accurate information concerning further development steps and plan everything out for the sake of smooth development process.
Estimation
Every single project starts with approving it's budget. When the client had contacted us with the cooperation purpose, our developers and other specialists started estimating how much time they need to implement this project based on the set requirements. Typically, at this stage, we also help our customers to select the most suitable pricing model matching the project needs. In the case of Ayoo Dance, it was decided to use the Time & Material model enabling our client to flexibly change project requirements. When the client had approved the estimate, we moved to the planning stage.
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Planning stage
It may sound like a cliche, but planning is a really important stage as it may greatly influence the development time. During this stage, our team clarified all the details and determined the scope and type of work. After that, we drafted the calendar plan breaking development into stages. This way, we evaluated what resources we require for each stage and project as a whole.
Design & development stage
Our client approached us with a ready-made app design but our UI/UX designer suggested several improvements that were accepted by the client. After all the improvements were done and agreed upon the app was submitted for development. It's worth mentioning that each project is coordinated by a project manager to avoid time losses and increase efficiency.
The development of Ayoo Dance
Initially, our customer wanted us to create an app for iOS only. Taking into consideration the peculiarities of this project, the following project team was formed:
- 2 iOS developers;
- 2 web developers (back-end & admin panel);
- UI/UX designer (minor design improvements);
- QA engineer;
- Project manager.
Technology stack we used
At Cleveroad, we pick the appropriate set of technologies for each project to minimize the development time and deliver a stable product.
In order to develop Ayoo Dance the following technology stack was used:
Swift
The programming language for Apple's platforms which has a lot of advantages over Objective-C.
Node.js
It's a programming platform that was used to develop a back-end part of the app. More specifically, our developers used Express.js framework.
MySQL
It's a relational database management system that was used to manage a database and connect it to an application.
FLAnimatedImage
This GIF engine for iOS was used to optimize GIF images in the application.
Facebook SDK
This SDK was used to give users an opportunity for logging into the app through their Facebook accounts.
Testing
The software testing is a very important part of any project. That's why our QA engineer was involved in the project from the very beginning.
Features of Ayoo Dance
It's high time to consider what Ayoo Dance app is capable of.
Duet
This feature is designed to record synchronous video and let one dancer repeat movements of another one to form a duo. Users can record and post a Duet video and wait until someone joins it or join one of the existing Duet videos from their feed. Also, users can set the music from iTunes to the recorded videos.
As with any social network, Ayoo Dance has likes, comments, and sharing options that are available for users.
Ayoo Dance: Duo interactive video feature
Battle
This feature has the same mechanics as Duet but is created to let two dancers battle each other and learn who's better by means of likes.
Ayoo Dance: Battle interactive video feature
Search
Talking about social features, Ayoo Dance has a search page where users are able to search by people, tags, and places. Under the search line, users can find such sections as:
- Trending hashtags;
- Popular profiles;
- Top rated posts.
Ayoo Dance: Search features
Learning
Ayoo Dance is a global dancers community which is created not only for fun but learning as well. Users can learn new styles in the specialized section with training video materials.
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In addition, they can record the duet video to make sure they repeat movements correctly.
Ayoo Dance: Learning
Project handover
The project was completed in 3.5 months. We should stress that our client was creating an appropriate content for this social network prior to it's launch. It's a very important step because content is the only thing that can attract users and in the case of Ayoo Dance that content served as a great push for community growth. The empty app wouldn't be able to generate a community in such a short term.
We love working on interesting projects! If you have an app idea, don't hesitate to contact our managers. They will consult you regarding your project and cooperation with Cleveroad as well as estimate the cost of your app or website.
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Evgeniy Altynpara is a CTO and member of the Forbes Councils’ community of tech professionals. He is an expert in software development and technological entrepreneurship and has 10+years of experience in digital transformation consulting in Healthcare, FinTech, Supply Chain and Logistics
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