DUOLABS
Work

Global shopping service expansion

We quickly ported a large electronics company's official global shopping app, where it sells its own phones, TVs, and appliances directly, to another platform, working from the implementation and screen flows already running on the first one. The app is a hybrid that shows web screens inside an app shell, so the same web page behaves differently in each environment, and the first question was always whether a problem lived in the web or in the app. We built the app shell, entry into web screens, external links, and app permissions for the new platform, and patched web screens that were hard to change directly by injecting scripts from the app. We split issues with the web team and shipped after addressing store review feedback.

Launch
2023
Client
A major Korean electronics company
Type
Commerce & Retail

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A hybrid app that carries a web-run shopping service in an app shell

The global shopping app is a hybrid that displays a web-run shopping service inside an app shell. Customers order products, receive member rewards, and track deliveries in real time with notifications in this app. The version for the other platform was ported quickly against the existing app's implementation and screen flows. We worked out the parts that differ by platform, such as the shell that holds web screens, the path into web screens, external link handling, and app permissions, and built them into a releasable app. Problems in loading web content and at the boundary between app features and the web were also tuned from the app shell's side.

A hybrid app that carries a web-run shopping service in an app shell
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Script injection that patched hard-to-change web screens from the app

The web screens of the global shopping service were hard for the app side to change directly. When a planned screen or an edge case was not handled on the web, the app injected scripts into the web screen to fill the gap at the code level. Each fix was applied only after checking the page's structure, its load timing, and which screen should appear under which condition.

Script injection that patched hard-to-change web screens from the app
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One page compared across three environments, with fixes divided accordingly

A web page in the hybrid shopping app can behave differently in a mobile browser, inside this app's web screen, and inside the other platform's app. Together with the web team we compared the three side by side and first determined whether a problem belonged to the web or to the app shell. Issues were then resolved by dividing the fix between the people responsible for each part.

One page compared across three environments, with fixes divided accordingly
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A release that took in unexpected review feedback right away

During the release of the global shopping app, store review came back with change requests, including one to remove every device-related image from the app. We applied the feedback quickly and set out the scope of changes needed for re-review. Planning, web, app, QA, and review were separate stages, so every time requirements changed or an exception came up, quick communication and quick fixes were what kept the release steady.

A release that took in unexpected review feedback right away

Highlights

01

A hybrid shopping app ported against the existing implementation and flows

02

Web screens that could not be edited directly, patched with scripts injected from the app

03

Issue fixes split between web and app by environment, plus store review response

Insights

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