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Challenge
TBN/BlitzDeals had a concept for a mobile app that would enable users to save money at local businesses that were offering services that had some sort of deal attached to them. For example, if a salon was offering 20% off and appointment from 2-5pm, the user of the BlitzDeals app would be able easily discover and take advantage of that deal. I worked with a graphic designer and web developer to create the iOS app.
Solution
The resulting iPhone app makes use of iOS Core Location to keep track alert the user to deals near them. When the user finds a deal that they like, they can save the deal within the app. Later, as the time for that deal approaches, or if the user enters the area near that business, the user gets a notification on their phone reminding them of the deal. The user can utilize the deal with a tap and all the information about the claimed deals is recorded on the company’s web server.
Insights
All deals within the system are available only within certain geographic and time boundaries. The code for making this function smoothly for the user was a little tricky. One unexpected piece of development, however, was creating a system in the app so that we could simulate different times and locations to test app functionality without actually having to wait hours or travel miles to make sure the system was working correctly.
In the end, after a couple years of trying to gain traction, BlitzDeals decided to shut down in mid-2018.
Technologies and Methods
| Requirement | Solution |
|---|---|
| Location Monitoring | Core Location & Geofencing |
| User Communication | Local & Push notifications |
| Analytics | Mixpanel |
| Crash Monitoring | Firebase |
| Login & Authentication | Facebook SDK |
| Marketing and Deep linking | Branch.io |
