Case Study

Development and Localization of Q&A Platform

Type of projectWeb App

IndustryEducation, Finance

LocationUSA

Technology.NET

Product Description

Our .NET professionals developed a Question and Answer platform for our client. On this platform, people can register as experts on a particular subject after complete verification and answer the queries. The primary aim of our ally was to increase the user base on this platform and start monetizing from it in the future.

Some of the basic requirements of this platform include:

Role-based Access
Dedicated Portals for average users and expert users
Conducting online events
Classification of Q&A services
Different communication channels
Web-App Localization

Challenges

We followed the Agile Development approach as we went through multiple iterations to identify client requisites, design, develop and test the application. Below are some primary project demands and challenges placed with client and project team collaboration.

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Our client’s target audience is available across various operating systems and devices. Thus, the very first requirement was to develop a platform-independent application. The app must run on all Windows, macOS, and Linux-based machines without showing any other error.

In addition, our client wants to reduce the maintenance cost of apps created for different platforms.

Direct Communication Feature

On the Q&A portal, experts register themselves and provide solutions to the queries uploaded by other people. Anyone who wants to interact one-to-one with a professional will have the option to communicate through chat and mail.

Moreover, according to the project goal, users with a paid membership will only be eligible for directly communicating with experts.

Discussion Board

The next challenge our team identified was to craft a discussion board. Any user with or without membership must be eligible to navigate to the discussion option and create a board. The only requirement to create a new board is to write down the question and post it on the feed.

Additionally, the users must be able to upload PNG, JPEG, and PDF files on the discussion board to provide an efficient answer.

Availability in Multiple Languages

According to our client’s business goal, they want to expand operations in different countries and enhance customer relationships. For achieving this objective, web-app localization was their primary demand. It will allow the user to select from various available languages to change the default settings.

In addition, the app must allow end-users and experts to upload questions and answers in their preferred language.

Online Events

The next challenge is creating a Q&A web app was to embed an in-built module, enabling experts to conduct online meetings and events. Our client needed a meeting module, offering more than 500 participants to join together. Moreover, the host must be able to share files during the event and remove any participant in case of unlawful activity.

Secure Data Sharing and Payment Mechanism

As our client wants to deploy this application on different continents, users can chat, send emails, and attach files in forums. It makes essential to protect the data flow from illegitimate actors and infected files.

Besides this, the end-user will have an option to buy the membership to unlock additional features. So, our ally demanded a secure payment gateway, preventing a data breach.

Search and Filtering

Providing searching and filtering features to users was a primary requisite of this software development project. As per our client, it must enable users to search about experts in a specific niche and filter out already published questions and answers on any topic.

Moreover, the stakeholders should filter upcoming events, attending events, and subscriptions using the filter option.

Solution

Accessibility across OS

Our Core .NET development team handled this project and created a cross-platform compatible application accessible across Windows, macOS, and Linux-based systems. In addition, the application provides native experiences to users and doesn’t encounter any additional exceptions while running.

Moreover, the app is lightweight and consumes only limited computation resources, helping clients seamlessly install and run it.

Multiple Communication Channels

For allowing users who have bought a membership, the web integrated multiple communication channels for them. They can communicate with an expert through the one-to-one chat mechanism and mailing services.

In addition, experts have the leverage to create chat groups for discussing a topic and share some files, links, or any other content with the end-users.

Authentic Discussion Board

We embedded the discussion board feature for every user. The client has to navigate to create a discussion forum option, write down the topic, upload a file, if any, and post it on their feed.

Later, any user can click on the topic and write down their review or viewpoint or upload a file to participate in the discussion.

Simultaneously, the users get notified about their board’s replies and new comments.

Multi-Lingual

To provide the accessibility to change application language, our development team collaborated with multiple language experts.

We crafted multiple interface designs and prototypes to select an efficient one that can appropriately display content in all languages.

In addition, the app also allows setting automatic language changes according to the region.

Built-in online Meeting Mechanism

The app allows users with expert accounts to schedule an online meeting or event. They can share the link in the chat groups, send them through the mail and post it on the feed.

A maximum of one thousand people can participate in the online meeting. If the requirement increases, our team has already furnished the additional module.

Data Security

Our security experts furnished the overall app security. They encrypted all the communication channels and configured hashing and salting mechanisms for data stored in the databases. In addition, the app comes up with by-default-enabled authentication, authorization, and access controls.

In addition, we installed an anti-virus and anti-malware solution to prevent users from uploading malicious and infected files onto the platform. Moreover, we aligned the overall solution with PCI DSS, ISO, and NIST standards.

Categorization

To enable the search and filter mechanism, our team created different categories to search. For instance, if the users want to ask an IT expert a question, they can search for information technology professionals available on the app. Likewise, they can filter out the discussions performed on a specific topic under a particular niche.

Result

Once we delivered the web app within the defined schedule, our ally was able to achieve the following objectives:

Our client analyzed an exponential growth in their user base, as they could reach out to the target audience.
Due to high traffic on the app, they start getting offers from other organizations to display ads. It led them to monetize the app and earn recurring revenue.
They were connected to industry experts, aiding them in improving their business strategies through collaboration.
There was rapid customer retention and satisfaction rate growth due to web-app localization.
The overall application complied with ISO and NIST standards, preventing legal actions against the company.
The organization was able to identify trending topics in different domains, helping them improve their content marketing for better reach.