We at Purrweb have great experience in development and design, but still, clients come to us with something new and unusual. We are happy though. Here, we’ll discuss the most interesting projects and how we dealt with them.
App for analyzing stun gun data
Why is the project interesting? We had to get an old soldering iron.
A manufacturer of stun guns for police and security companies turned to us. They asked us to develop a desktop app to analyze data collected by stun guns.
A stun gun is a service weapon and must be handled with care. For example, pulling the trigger for a certain amount of time in order to not hurt a person too much. In controversial situations, if someone complains of abuse of authority, an investigation begins. In these cases, it’s important to track how intensely the weapon was used.
When the client turned to us, they already had a working prototype for Windows. It could demonstrate charts with data: when the gun was used, what electric power was chosen, and how long the trigger was pulled. But they had a few problems:
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- The UI was inconvenient and not user-friendly.
- The clients produced stun guns under three different brands, so we had to create three app versions with different identities.
- They needed an app not only for Windows but also for Mac and Linux.
The most complicated part was to write a program that would read the gun data. The client sent us the device microchip to let us test all the possible cases. We connected it to a laptop with two wires, and one of them kept disconnecting. So, our project manager had to remember how to use father’s old soldering iron.
We recreated the charting mechanics exactly but made the UI simpler. We divided it into three conceptual blocks: device description, shot details, and power graph. We developed the app on Electron.js which helped us save the client’s money — we wrote one code but got three apps for different OS types.
We made black and green app versions for two gun brands — Gard and Lumos
We made a blue theme for Magen. Initially, the client wanted to make green chart lines, but we suggested a white color to make the image more contrasting.
Eco-consultant for business
Why is the project interesting? We switched from API to datasets in the middle of the project.
Now, the West is aiming for carbon neutrality. Many companies have to track their emissions, and startups get more chances to attract investments if they include ecological indicators in their business plans. A client from Britain came to us with the idea of a Carbon accounting eco-consultant.
As a rule, companies must not only note the amount of emissions but also keep records and calculate the sum necessary to compensate for the damage caused to nature. To do all this, a company has to hire in-house specialists or attract outsourced services — both of which are costly. Eco-consultant automates processes and helps businesses save money.
What the eco-consultant has to do
The problem was that there was no unified algorithm for calculating carbon footprints — different services calculated different data. That’s why we decided to make a product based on interaction with other APIs. We would send the data to the services for calculation, and they would return the result.
We made a prototype in three months. But later things didn’t go according to plan since the client started dropping new terms and requirements. We found out that the reports had to comply with the international GHG Protocol standards that the client hadn’t mentioned before. As a result, we had to switch from APIs to datasets to collect data based on the standards.
It turned out that each country had its own data sets with coefficients for calculating emissions, and they were updated once a year. We had to consider this and make these updates possible.
The project took four more months. We studied eco protocols, rewrote the server logic, and tried to organize the data in the tables in the best possible way. The client wanted to show the project to the investors as soon as possible, so we had to hurry and do our best to work with the old architecture. But this story has a happy ending — the client was satisfied, and the eco-consultant got its first users.
Video collaboration platform
Why is the project interesting? We made an Adobe-like product but with a smaller budget.
A new client — a documentary director and the CEO of a video production company turned to us. He interacts a lot with film editors, they send him videos for reviews, then he makes timecodes with comments and returns the material for editing.
Before, they used Frame.io for Adobe, but later they wanted to become independent of the Adobe product and have their own service. That’s why the client asked us to make a similar app for reviewing video content. Initially, they planned to use it as an in-house tool. After that, they were going to scale it as a SaaS solution and sell subscriptions.
It was a low-budget project, so our task was to make a Frame.io analog, simplify it as much as possible, and preserve the key features. For example, we removed the frame comments and left timestamped comments only.
To save the budget, we used a ready-made UI kit from Chakra — the result was neat and convenient
We made the technical design and showed the app logic as well as how it would look and work. The client approved each iteration on the first try. Unfortunately, the project was never developed. Although we did our best to save the budget, we couldn’t find common ground on the legal terms.
Nightclub ecosystem
Why is the project interesting? We developed a mechanic for ordering a private dance.
A US client came to us with an idea for an app that would make it easier for nightclub guests to interact with the staff. With this service, users don’t have to wait in line at the bar, or look for a waiter or a dancer — they can order through the app.
The main challenge was that the app included five roles:
- Super admin. They create club profiles and see all the establishments in the system.
- Admin. They manage their club and add staff, food, and drinks.
- Kitchen. They get and bring orders.
- Guest. They buy food and drinks or order private dances.
- Staff. Waiters manage food orders, and dancers get dance orders and payments.
All the roles in the app are connected, so it was impossible to make just one version and test it thoroughly — we had to develop everything at the same time. We also had to work out the payment system, because the money was transferred to a few different accounts belonging to the app, club owners, waiters, and dancers.
As a result, we developed separate mechanics for different roles. For example, we added age verification into the architecture, so that users wouldn’t have to show their IDs when they order alcohol. And we made two scenarios for private dances:
- Guests place an order. They select a girl from the list, get a QR code for payment, and the dance begins.
- A dancer comes up to the guest. In this case, the guest generates a QR code on the spot, then the dancer scans it and charges the customer.
We made a dark theme for the app so that a light UI wouldn’t hurt users’ eyes in the nightclub environment. And, we created an ice cube logo, as most cocktails contain ice.
NFT clothes market
Why is the project interesting? We got inspired by Doja Cat and made a fashion statement.
One day guys came to us with an idea for an NFT app. The idea was to help users buy and try on clothing for their NFT characters and get rewards, for example, going to a BTS concert or getting some rare item. The more stuff users buy, the more money they can get.
The most challenging part was creating 3D characters. The client wanted them to be unique and represent the essence of Japanese and Korean fashion. We called each other and gathered the requirements: eyes, hair, and clothing style. Then, we got inspiration from Pinterest and drew sketches.
We tried to get the sketches approved by the clients but realized that it wouldn’t work — we had to show the client the finished models. Designing without sketches was a serious task that had many nuances: creating a hairstyle and mimics, selecting an eye shape, and especially working out the clothing. We hadn’t worked with clothes before, and it turned out to be a tricky task to design styles, patterns, and folds. Besides, since the character was supposed to move, the clothes had to look great both in a static state and in motion.
Scroll through our gallery to view the evolution of our 3D character 👇
These were the first sketches, and although we communicated with the client a lot, we didn’t get the vibe.
It’s the intermediate variant. The clothes were a failure. They were supposed to be Balenciaga but looked like clothes from a cheap market.
At a certain moment, we felt that the task was too hard for us. But finally, we got the guy, and the client approved of him.
When the guy was finally ready, we had to make a 3D girl. She was another challenge 👇
The clients liked this girl. But she was too detailed compared to the guy, so we had to remake her
The characters didn’t match at all. We tried to make the girl look like the guy — she looked awful. Then, we tried to adapt to the guy and failed again.
Finally, Doja Cat inspired us. We listened to her music and saw her pictures — and made this lady in 10 minutes.
When developing the UI, we got inspired by rap culture, street style, and the NFT sphere in general. The Nike React and Adidas CHILE20 projects were some of our references.
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If you have an interesting idea, unusual mechanic, or technical challenge, we at Purrweb are ready to take on any idea for a business or startup. You can check out our portfolio to make sure we are telling the truth.
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