What is a web app and does your business need one?
Web apps are a good way for established businesses to make problematic workflows robust. Briefly, a web app is where you provide a more complicated interaction between your website and your users — almost anything more complicated than a form submission could be considered a web app. A web app is a process where your site is providing a service to your clients other than just content. There are many reasons for businesses to provide services via web apps. To name a few, web apps are:
Efficient and Scalable
Your website can provide a service to many, many people, all day and all of the night. This frees up your staff to handle those few clients that need a high-touch interaction.
Highly accessible
Your website is available to people on their phones, tablets, and at their desks. In other words, it is available to the entire internet.
Cost-effective
Web development is the cheapest most cost-effective way to develop software. Why not make the most of your investment in your website and make sure it works for you?
Our work
Ultimately, web apps are an investment that can solve an existing need in the business, which, if developed properly, will save you time and money. Here are examples of web apps we’ve developed for clients.
P20ASys
The P2OASys site is a database-driven system that evaluates chemistries against a matrix of about 150 attributes, such as inhalant toxicity, based on a quantitative ranking scale of 1 to 10. Our client needed a way for companies, organizations, and individuals to be able to access the database, as well as add context/information as needed. This information has a complex workflow involving submission, evaluation, and feedback.
We built an integrated view of the database with all 150 categorical data points that can be searched and cross-referenced. Evaluators (students, industry workers, etc) can add information based on their own findings into the memo field for specific entries, which is then reviewed by TURI staff, before updating the entry across the system. This web app allows for more detailed safety evaluation and more current results/data.
The web app has streamlined the approval process and made it easier to keep the database current. Not only has it allowed for huge amounts of data to be drilled down and made more accessible in a lab setting, but the process eliminates much of the potential user error that came before the automation.
Livres Canada Books
This client's model relied on a laborious, high-touch process supported by the exchange of large spreadsheets. Part of their work involves promoting the work of Canadian book publishers at trade shows, on a paid sponsorship basis. To do this, they create a print and digital version of a catalog, based on their database with edits from individual publishers. Both the digital and print are produced in two languages (English and French Canadian) This previously required a lot of back and forth, a lot of copy editing at inconvenient stages of the project, and an onerous amount of staff time to manage. While a process that required billing integration, data validation, export functionality, and an approval workflow could seem daunting, this was the perfect candidate for web app development.
We took the client's existing workflow and automated it. Now, publishers can nominate (and pay- key to this) for the promotion of specific titles. They have a web interface that immediately pulls the bibliographic data from an authoritative source, but where they can also edit the metadata or update it with information specific to their needs. The entry then goes to the translators, then directly to the appropriate staffer for approval, and then it’s exported into a spreadsheet which can be directly imported into InDesign templates by the design team for quick catalog creation on-demand.
The implementation of the solution has dramatically improved functionality for the site admins and clients alike. The better user experience allows publishers to submit more titles. It has reduced user and transmission errors by eliminating the back-and-forth between multiple systems. Billing is streamlined, and design time has been slashed. Staff have been able to devote more resources to other projects, while simultaneously generating more content to promote books across their site without additional steps from this process.
Online Daily Evaluations
Residents in doctoral training programs needed a more efficient way to manage the evaluations that are part of their training process. The previous process involved physical papers called "Green sheets". As happens with a manual process, things got lost, were not completed, and took a long time to compile. The analog papers were also inconvenient for teaching doctors who might not have regular shifts at the hospital where the papers must be picked up/returned to.
We created a standalone site that streamlined the evaluation process for all involved. Not only does it prompt evaluators and responders to complete the forms throughout the process, but it added additional features such as search functionality, a student portal to view evaluations, export and consolidation of records, and compliance ratings for doctors.
While in use, compliance for completing evaluations went from 60% to nearly 100%. The final custom solution was also far more cost-effective than the manual version, and was cheaper than other off-the-shelf options currently on the market.
CanSubmit
Publishers needed an unobtrusive way for writers to submit manuscripts. This process needs to be secure and needs to help quickly sort through submissions and allow for auto responses.
We developed CanSubmit, an interface that’s easy for people to create accounts and submit to publishers directly. On the user’s end, this allows them to complete necessary forms and keeps a log of communications between them and publishers. On the publisher’s backend, they can manage forms, create custom queues, assign tasks to staff members, read multiple file formats (of manuscripts) in a safe (sanitized) view, and send auto-responses for rejections or acceptance.
This web app was built specifically for the publishing industry with a clear understanding of the needs of publishers. The final result is a cost-effective solution that provides a necessary service at lost cost to clients.
What can we build for you?
Web apps are a solid development investment, and can bring returns in productivity and engagement. Our experience in building these solutions makes Mugo Web the partner you want when considering how your website can bring added functionality and value to your company.
