A US-based EdTech company provides innovative online bibliography software that supports students, teachers, and librarians throughout the entire research process. Their flagship product, is a user-friendly web-based software that helps organize notes from various sources to create a working bibliography. It includes tools to help users think, assess, synthesize, and complete a polished source list in accordance with MLA Handbook, APA Publication Manual, or Turabian’s Manual for Writers. 

Business Challenge:

The client wanted to bring new ideas to market for their bibliography software and enhance its existing features to progress it to the next level of maturity. They had conceptualized several new features and needed strong technology and R&D expertise to bring these ideas to life. 

Forgeahead Solution:

Forgeahead’s engagement was divided into two phases: 

• Phase I – Ideation to Launch: Forgeahead transformed the client’s concept into a tangible product with relevant features, while also overcoming limitations in the existing product. 

• Phase II – Launch to Maturity: The newly built features were tested and integrated with the existing product. Forgeahead also developed features for the integrated version and integrated the product with existing popular tools like iCyte. 

Technology Used

• Python – 2.7, Flask Framework 
• PHP – 5.x 
• BackboneJS 
• HTML 5.0 and CSS 3.0 
• MySQL – 5.6 

Forgeahead’s Development Methodology

• JIRA: Task management, defect management, and tracking. 
• Test Link: Test case management based on requirements. 
• Gitlab: Distributed version control and source code management. 
• Docker: Open platform for distributed application management. 
• Jenkins: Continuous Integration and Delivery pipelines. 

Forgeahead’s Project Methodology

Forgeahead followed an Agile methodology for rapid development and used its mature testing approach to perform Smoke, Manual, Regression, Adhoc, and Exploratory Testing. 

• Separate instances for Development and Staging (testing). 
• Weekly demo sessions for the customer on Mondays. 
• Feedback closure mechanism and coding per customer-specific standards. 

Forgeahead’s Contribution

• Analyzed and validated new ideas. 
• Researched technology and API for implementing new features. 
• Defined the implementation approach and contributed to coding, functional testing, and load testing. 

Forgeahead’s Challenges

• Designing the UI using divs and removing tables originally designed by web designers. 
• Developing features like drag-and-drop, expandable tree outlines, inline editing of notecards, and a commenting system. 
• Ensuring user adoption of the new application over the existing one.

Forgeahead Solutions Inc.

Forgeahead offers a comprehensive suite of services for software product companies at all stages of the product lifecycle. Established in 1999, Forgeahead has a proven track record of delivering business value to customers globally.