Relationship Compatibility App Development Case Study: StayGo

StayGo is one of the most recent software products developed by MobiDev. It is a free cross-platform app backed by a system that evaluates users' romantic relationships and predicts their possible future.

In this case study we covered the evolution of this project from the very beginning up to the present day. We believe it is a good example of an inspired product created with well-orchestrated interactions between the product owner's side and the mobile app development team. A classic case of a great idea supplemented by best practices, careful elaboration of details and flexible implementation.

How it started

The product owner's side involved two groups of people. The first one included business people, producers and startup owners in search of ideas to invest in. The second one comprised a group of professors whose studies were dedicated to behavior psychology and psychology of relations. These people had done preliminary work on a scientific approach to determination and evaluation of compatibility between people. This approach would be much more comprehensive for all interested people than quick tests in magazines, with its set of in-depth questions and calculations of different aspects of relationships.

Discussions between these people led to an idea of creating a software product that would show its users the strengths and weaknesses of their relationships, and what and how can be improved. Then there was an idea of tracking relationship dynamics, adding anonymous feedback, which would be provided by close people who might be too polite or shy to share their real thoughts. Then came the idea of making the product more social.

Eventually, the product owner came to us with a formed vision of the future couple compatibility app: well-thought out modules, target audience, the value of the product, and the problems it would solve. It was the information that we consider vital for a good start of any software project.

From demo prototype to final app design

Although there were many people involved on the product owner's side, he was the single decisionmaker—which we believe is useful for any project, especially if it has a high level of complexity.

He did not know how much time such a product would take, and how all the suggested modules and features would be implemented. Before we would solve the problem, there was a decision of making a rather simplistic demo prototype with a test comprising 5 questions and corresponding calculations. We implemented it as a JavaScript-based web prototype with design for mobile devices. It was spread among real target audience, and helped to gather feedback and suggestions.

After a while the product owner returned to us with a firm decision of creating a full-fledged hybrid mobile app. We made a new UI/UX design from scratch, skipping wireframing and proceeding right to mockups, since we knew the subject quite well. We had a color scheme and made 15 design concepts to choose from. Once more our target audience was involved, and PhoneGap was selected as the optimal platform that would cover both iOS and Android, while the backend would be created with the Yii framework.

The product owner's side defined the set features for the first version, and we estimated them. We knew that changes would be inevitable, and we agreed we would be constantly looking for ways to improve the product for the likes of real end users. To make it happen, we applied our proven and flexible iterative approach to implementation. We covered the three major modules in 6 months, from May-June (design) to December (the first launch).

First version: app development and features

The entire scope was implemented during 2-week sprints. The finishing touch of each sprint was a demo with each person involved from the product owner's side. Everyone could get full clear vision of the progress. Thus we avoided any misunderstandings and gathered all the feedback that we needed to move on.

As the development progressed, we made a promotional website for the app. Our flexible approach allowed us to alter the course of the project and introduce vital changes. We changed the order of module implementation, added several low-priority features (feedback), optimized texts where it was necessary, modified the approved structure of several UI/UX elements: improved the transition logic in a couple of places for convenience that is so much valued by users.

Our cooperation was built on standard work principles and best practices adopted by our company; you don't have to invent and complicate things to make your project efficiently implemented. We followed our development plan and successfully delivered an deployed the PhoneGap application in December, as planned.

What we implemented was the set of features divided into 3 major modules:

• Tell StayGo all about your current partner(s) and get a scientifically accurate score with grades in twenty different categories so you can predict your chances of a happy future.

In order to get precise and scientifically substantiated compatibility results, we implemented a custom system on the server side. This system interpreted user answers with application of mathematics, mathematical logic, and notions of behavior psychology. We optimized the testing of these features: API tests were automated, which allowed to quickly check the correct calculations of results, as well as define and eliminate any problematic places in this logic.

• This one-of-a-kind feature tracks the ups and downs of your relationships like a Fitbit for your love life!