NeoTaste: Deals for Foodies

Introduction

Get a taste of NeoTaste

It was late spring of 2019, when a promising German startup approached us with their idea. The goal was simple - help people find great new places to eat and offer them special deals. Food lovers ourselves, we couldn't be happier to work on this new challenging project.

That’s how NeoTaste became reality. The project consisted of two major parts – a mobile application for foodies and an extensive web platform for restaurants, as well as an admin panel for the startup owners. We built a custom solution, working side by side with the client to deliver a top-notch experience to the lively community of foodies, and help restaurants reach out to new customers.

Overview

Scope

Mobile app and web platform

We defined the scope of the project during workshops with the client.

Front-end

The main technology we used in front-end development was Angular.

Back-end

Back-end development is based on .NET technology.

Technology

iOS, Android

For mobile development, we used two reliable programming languages - Swift and Kotlin.

Team

6 members

The team consists of Mobile, Front- and Back-end Developers, a QA Specialist, and a Team Lead.

Duration

The 1st phase took 6 months

After a soft launch a while ago, we focused on adding new features and improvements.

Food enthusiasts unite!

Discover great food and new venues around your city - that’s the general idea behind NeoTaste. The mobile application is a gateway to special deals offered by restaurants (bars, cafes, pubs, etc.).

In order to take advantage of an offer, you need to take 3 easy steps. First, enable location services on your smartphone and browse through the opportunities in your area. You can choose a view of a list or a map, whichever is more convenient for you, and explore the details of the deals offered by different venues. Once you found a deal you’re interested in, you can book it, indicating when you’d like to use it. Finally, simply go to the chosen restaurant and enjoy your meal!

Rediscover your city

You can explore the deals without registering in the app or paying for it, but in order to get the deal, you need to set up an account and choose a paid plan. With a yearly subscription, you can get access to even more unique deals and special bonuses.

While browsing the deals, you can filter them by day and time, as most of the offers are not available all-day or all-week long. You can also add the best venues to favorites to stay up to date with their special offers. Right now, NeoTaste covers selected German cities, but there’s more to come!

Making of

Since we got in touch with the client, the whole process of creating the app took around 6 months. Let's explore the details!

Discovery workshops

Project management

UX/UI design

Development

Beta tests

Quality assurance

The client visited us in our Wroclaw office for a product design workshop session. We spent a few days working on the idea of NeoTaste with a cross-skilled team of developers and designers. The hard work and lots of creativity resulted in a well-refined MVP concept. Later, the initial scope was extended with more features.

The project was managed in line with agile principles. After every 2-week sprint, there was a demo, followed by a planning session. There were also regular refinement and backlog estimation meetings. The client had direct access to the board with tasks for the whole team and could communicate anytime with any member of the team.

All the designs were provided by the client, but we actively collaborated on their implementation to maximize the user-friendly experience. We wanted to keep the app simple, and easy to use even for people who are not regular mobile-app users. By the client’s request, we also enabled UXCam to monitor the users’ in-app activity.

The team working on NeoTaste consisted of experienced mobile engineers, as well as skilled front- and back-end developers. That’s why we were able to build everything the project covered simultaneously – both the mobile app and the web platform. When the key features were completed, the application was presented to beta testers.

As we take user experience seriously, we ran a series of beta tests with selected users and shared the app for testing on TestFlight and Google Play. The feedback we gathered at this stage was very insightful and helped us refine the app before the official launch. We also jotted down some improvements we’re going to implement in the future!

We have been testing the application internally throughout the whole development process. We also carefully listened to our client and quickly adapted to changing requirements. Now, after the launch we make sure the app and the platform are stable, and troubleshoot when necessary.

As a restaurant owner who wants to expand their business and reach out to new customers, you need to be where the potential customers are – and they’re most definitely online. A nice website and engaging social media profile are a must, but to get ahead of your competitors, you need to look for innovation – and NeoTaste is surely one. The application can be an additional sales tool for your restaurant and support your efforts on a whole new level.

With a comprehensive admin panel for restaurant owners, you can manage deals on offer and get useful analytical information. Partnering with NeoTaste can help you get your message to people who haven’t visited your place yet, and turn them into returning guests.

Features

Access to deals from restaurants in your area

Convenient search filters

Personal profile with badges and favorite venues

Easy payments (PayPal, Klarna, credit card, bank transfer)

Easy deal-booking process

Map view

Simple affiliate program

Web platform for restaurant owners to manage deals

Technology

Technical side of the project

As for the mobile solution, we built two separate apps – for Android and iOS, developed respectively with Kotlin and Swift. Microsoft AppCenter served as a testing environment, both directly for the client, and for our internal quality assurance. We also applied Firebase for the analytics.

Online payments integration was a challenging part, as we needed to make sure all types of transactions the client required are possible to execute. That’s why we decided to use Mollie – a powerful library that manages everything we needed – PayPal, bank transfer, credit card, and above all Klarna, which was a key requirement.

The web platform for restaurant owners and admin panel for the client were created with Angular (front-end) and .NET (back-end).