CommunO2 (Community Oxygen) is an integrated platform designed to address the needs of people, organizations, and the community to raise the quality of service and the quality of life.
The CommunO2 platform started as an idea from current company president Joel Ackerman, who wanted to build an app that would combat social isolation by connecting people at home with all sorts of happenings in their communities.
But connecting populations doesn’t happen overnight, and Ackerman knew it would take time to create an efficient, effective online platform for this purpose.
Had Enough of Traditional Development Resource Drain?
Ackerman had a plan and a purpose, and he began building CommunO2 with help from three developers and a designer. His team hand-coded a workable web-based CommunO2 application—using traditional JavaScript—in about a year’s time, and they released it to the world.
The application’s potential piqued the interest of Michigan’s Otsego County Commission on Aging, which wanted a technical solution to combat social isolation in local and aging communities.
Feedback was succinct: The idea was sound, but it needed to work on mobile devices.
Ackerman’s team realized that adapting the current platform to a mobile-first design would take too much time and money. What’s more, a mobile-first application would need to be easily updated, and it would have to be adaptable to different businesses.
A traditional, hand-coded solution just wasn’t feasible.
Cutting Development Time in Half with OutSystems
So, Ackerman turned to OutSystems and its low-code development platform. Using OutSystems’ platform, Ackerman was able to develop the CommunO2 “SuperApp” all by himself and in half the time it took his team to hand-code the original web-based application.
The reimagined app is mobile-first and works seamlessly on Apple and Android devices. End users have single sign-on access to community businesses and services that are otherwise inaccessible to people at home.
Through the new SuperApp, CommunO2 provides:
- Live-streaming of classes, services, and events
- Video-based face-to-face engagement with community organizations of all types
- A virtual file cabinet
- Access to e-books and audiobooks
- Virtual travel
- Safe messaging
- Telehealth/telemedicine
- And more
With OutSystems, CommunO2 can continually update the app without disrupting end users. “The next time they open the app, the new features are there and ready to use,” says Ackerman.
The T4S Perspective: Benefits of Low-Code Development Solutions
No one wants to hit a speedbump in the development process. Fortunately, flexible solutions make it easy to modernize community-based technology projects without taxing your time or resources.
This is what CommunO2 was able to do using OutSystems to develop the SuperApp:
- 1 developer instead of 3
- 6 months to go live
- 6x faster development process
- 175 participating organizations and growing
OutSystems offers a 50% reduction in development time right out of the gate, and the platform’s toolbox is full of development features that provide a low-code solution for modern businesses.
Find the Perfect Modern Solution to Your Success
Much like CommunO2, your company might be trying to expand business potential but is running into obstacles. The professionals at T4S Partners understand that the right tools make all the difference.
Our team takes pride in helping businesses uncover and reduce operations inefficiencies. We help customers find and implement modern business solutions, services, and platforms just like OutSystems.
Want to keep traditional development methods from holding you back? Visit our website to learn more!
Link to original story: https://www.outsystems.com/case-studies/communo2-launch-app-to-end-social-isolation/