Building a Robust SaaS Widget for Exceptional Customer Support
Overview
Type
Web App - Widget
Industry
Travel & Hospitality
TechStack
100ms
React RnD
PubNub
Key Results
1 Million
concurrent user capacity
5000+ Hrs
of potential development time savings
30 Mins
integration and installation of widget
Product Design
ABOUT THE CLIENT
SaaS Company Offering Customer-centric Solutions
San Francisco, CATheir specialty lies in offering innovative solutions that cater to the unique needs of businesses across various industries. The company operates on a global scale.
PRODUCT VISION
A SaaS Widget for Exceptional Customer Support
The client wanted us to create a widget for customers to communicate with service agents through various channels, such as text and video. They wanted the app to be dependable and robust enough to surpass industry benchmarks.
Key Objectives to Achieve
- Create a software-as-a-service (SaaS) suite for customer support.
- Build an iframe widget capable of being placed on any site using a few lines of JavaScript.
- Flow similar to Intercom, and customers could interact with this widget to contact support
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Stable iframe Widget With Multimedia Features
The widget needed to deliver a good user experience and enable agents to interact with customers effortlessly.
Key Features to Build
- Allow customers to communicate with agents through text and video.
- Enable multi-person video chat capabilities with a dynamic layout.
- Have Integrated screen-sharing features with real-time notifications for events and status.
OUR APPROACH
Evaluate. Plan Milestones. Build in Agile.
The project requirements were first evaluated to finalize the tech stacks and the development methodology. The execution was then planned according to the timelines agreed by the client. The milestones were planned to be completed in an agile manner.
Development Milestone
Agile for fast and stable project delivery and shipping timelines
Methodology Used
Time and Material (T&M) for better flexibility and collaboration
Execution Journey
TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE
Integrated Tech Stacks with User-centric Design
From the get-go, we understood that there needs to be good integration between the tech stacks used in the project. Through this realization, we chose tools to deliver the best results together.
- Front-end Tech Stacks
- Key Tech Stacks
PROJECT EXECUTION
Agile Development. Time and Material Method. Strict Quality Tests.
Our team utilized a Time and Material engagement model to foster better collaboration. Additionally, we prioritized quality assessment (QA) at every stage of the development process, with a dedicated QA check for most steps.
Features Built
- A widget for communication with agents via various channels
- Video/voice call integration using 100ms
- Screen share integration
- Multi-person video chat with a dynamic layout
- Notifications flow for real-time events, calls, and status updates
- Real-time event for call notification and call status
- PIP flow for video/voice call when not present in video call screen
User Flow Created
Consumer Flow
The flow for consumers was designed to be intuitive and self-explanatory. They would get multiple sign-in options and get notifications when an agent joined. Agent assignment would happen according to the topic selected.
Agent Flow
When a room is created by the consumer, the agent gets a notification to enter the room. On entry, the agent will receive all the sign-in info the consumer shares, along with a unique ID. The agent can then follow a predefined flow for interaction.
Admin flow
Admins have the same options as agents for user interaction. Admins are also given extra privileges to add or remove agents and manage topics.
CHALLENGES
Notification Issues and Reloading
The client did not have an RT solution during the initial development phase. This prevented us from showing call notifications when a user-initiated call started.
We used only those third-party solutions that did not break security rules. For example, we encrypted the redux store using MMKV storage.
The widget reloaded every time a user navigated to a different page. This feature was critical, as it meant losing priceless interaction information if reloads happened before conversation closure.
RESULTS
Interactive Widget with Optimized User Flow
The project was completed within the designated timelines, and all the features planned were deployed within a short turnaround window. Implementation of the project went smoothly, and the client had no problem adopting it into their workflow.
1 Million
concurrent user capacity
5000+ Hrs
of potential development time savings
30 Mins
integration and installation of widget