Eurobus.sk case study

Project goals

Replacement of the old solution with a new, modern one. New technologies are not the only advantages. The goal was also:

• Reduction of time of the travel ticket purchase process.
• Integration of an independent API service which allows for connection with other services or partners.
• Responsive version implementation.

Tailor-made design

Now

Then

How we addressed them

• Definition of the critical points of the current solution
• Formulation of requests for the new solution
• Conceptual graphic design (wireframe)
• Tailor-made graphic design based on the wireframe
• Specification of API requirements (API was provided by a different contractor)
• Start of the development after the API was finished
• Translations, email template creation, testing and fine-tuning

Other innovations

We gradually expanded the project to include more options than the previous version:

The offer of transfer connections for clients.

The possibility for clients to register and subsequently a quicker purchase process.

Displaying bus stops on a map background based on GPS coordinates.

Improved communication with clients thanks to other language mutations support.

The possibility for passengers to get information concerning link delays or cashless banking malfunctions on the website.

Transfering the reservations from a separate domain to the main domain www.eurobus.sk and integrating it directly into the website.

Validation of the data entered (e-mail, phone number, etc.), because incorrectly entered contact details caused the loss of the contact to a customer.

The possibility to choose a particular seat in a bus from a graphic model.

New technologies

The previous solution was based on the combination of HTML, CSS and PHP. The page had to be re-rendered with each new action. For example, adding passengers and filling their details was very time-consuming. No validation, only the simplest type, existed. There was no responsive version of the app so it was difficult to order a ticket from a mobile phone, for example.

The new app is strictly divided into a presentation part (Frontend) and a business logic part (Backend API). The presentation part was implemented using the React Javascript library in the form of a single page application. Using React is what ensures high interactivity on desktops as well as on mobile phones. In addition, React is one of the most popular means of development of today so there’s an assumption that the app will be easily maintainable for several years to come. Moreover, this composition of technologies makes adding new features easier.

API was provided by an external contractor. A big advantage of dividing API from frontend is that it allows various different systems to implement this API. It can be, for example, different transport operators or different sales systems.

Benefits