FranklinCovey Loyalty: Web and Mobile
Finishing the web front end and creating iOS and Android apps on a three-person team, using shared ActionScript and Flex code to deliver a pilot on schedule.
I joined FranklinCovey’s Loyalty project when the web application was approximately one-third complete. I finished its front end and then created the mobile version for iOS and Android.
The product focused on customer satisfaction. Mobile access let customers work with the same data they were accustomed to accessing in the desktop web application.
A small team with a substantial delivery challenge
Our team had three people: me on the front end, a back-end developer, and a systems administrator responsible for the servers.
We had limited capacity and little native app development experience. The company was unsure whether we could finish the web application on time, let alone create the mobile version as well.
The architecture: shared code, device-specific interfaces
I structured the applications around ActionScript 3.0 and the Flex framework so that most of the code could be shared. Specific files handled the differences in the user interface across devices.
Adobe AIR gave us a way to bring that work to iOS and Android. Sharing the majority of the implementation made mobile delivery practical for our team while allowing the interfaces to differ where the devices required it.
What I built
- Finished the web application’s front end after joining the project partway through development.
- Created the mobile version for iOS and Android.
- Architected the front-end implementation to share most of its code across platforms, with device-specific UI files.
- Worked alongside the back-end developer and systems administrator to deliver the pilot.
The outcome: a pilot delivered on schedule
We shipped a pilot and hit our deadlines. Internal stakeholders and the initial companies participating in the pilot responded enthusiastically.
I left FranklinCovey shortly afterward, so my firsthand account ends with the pilot. I do not know how the product performed or evolved after that point.
What the project demonstrates
The shared architecture was a practical response to the team’s size, skills, and deadline. It let me complete the web front end and extend the product to mobile while keeping most of the implementation in a language and framework I knew well.
I later used Adobe AIR to bring existing learning games to iPad at Reading Horizons. Read that case study, follow the Loyalty timeline chapter, or explore my full career history.