From MVP to the Main Site

We undertook a dual project for R/GA through Staff Augmentation. It began with the development of an MVP for a healthcare industry business and culminated in the team leveraging it as a foundation for their Research & Development business unit.

Laying the foundations: the MVP

We teamed up with R/GA to successfully develop a minimum viable product for a prominent healthcare website undergoing a digital UI overhaul. The project involved revamping their content management system and FrontEnd, as well as integrating various technologies for hosting, tracking, form filling, and rapid video delivery.

The solution also required Continuous Integration updates to ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience for both customers and administrators. The Drupal-based CMS was strategically designed with a marketing perspective and seamlessly integrated with a content delivery network for swift video loading throughout the US.

Initially presented as an MVP to meet R/GA's immediate needs, the project expanded into a more comprehensive scope, showcasing the versatility of the original undertaking.

Technologies

Acquia

Adobe Marketing Cloud

Brightcove

Drupal 8

Google Tag Manager

Marketo

Solr

Challenges

Journey

We employed Drupal to develop both the content management system and the FrontEnd solutions. For maintenance, we opted for Acquia as a CMS hosting solution, seamlessly integrated with Brightcove CDN to ensure rapid video accessibility worldwide. Additionally, we implemented Solr for a robust search index, along with Google Tag Manager, Adobe Marketing Cloud, and Marketo to track and populate lead-capturing forms.

Destination

We achieved our objectives by shaping the content structure, implementing R/GA's design, enhancing content writing tools, and planning and developing the search engine.

Following the successful launch of the MVP, R/GA opted to extend this initial project into the healthcare provider's R&D business unit. The flexibility and scalability of the MVP allowed us to facilitate this expansion without starting from scratch.

Building on the premises

With the MVP successfully deployed, R/GA decided to take a comprehensive approach. Our next task was to overhaul the corporate site of the R&D business unit while integrating Continuous Integration into a scalable, versatile, and cohesive solution.

This expandable approach streamlined the development process, saving time, effort, and resources and accelerating decision-making. The tools and technologies that proved effective for the minimum viable product seamlessly transitioned to the R&D site, ensuring smooth progress for both BackEnd and FrontEnd solutions. This illustrates the power of scalability.

Technologies

Adobe Analytics

Docker

Drupal 8

Kubernetes

Twig

Challenges

Journey

The first thing to do was to set up all the development tools and stacks. We used Docker to provide the local development stacks and Kubernetes to manage the hosting cluster. The process of setting up was essential not only for our developers but also for the client's internal team. It worked in the same way as scaffolding and machinery in the construction industry.

The client's design was implemented once the development stack setup was complete.

Twig provided a template engine that supports Drupal. This is how Drupal fills out blank spaces and turns 'insert_your_username_here' into your actual username. Essential for custom components.

We implemented Adobe Analytics for audience segmentation, which allows tracking and segmenting the different groups of users entering the site. Using personalization for the corporate segment avoided the voice and tone issues they had been having.

This journey was similar to that of the MVP, with added complexity but solid foundations to build upon. As a result, the technologies used were the same, focused on Back and FrontEnd development.

Destination

We successfully leveraged the previously written code, maximizing flexibility and versatility for the second part of this project. This enabled us to accelerate development and provide a unified foundation for both sites.

By the end of this journey, we delivered a completely restructured Continuous Integration pipeline, streamlining content updates and deployments.

This case tested our ability to reuse and recycle components that proved functional in the minimum viable product while also building new ones to meet the new set of goals and challenges. This approach maximized productivity for all project stakeholders.