Kör - Fulcrum Rocks

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About the project

Kör is an online platform in Norway that allows booking driving programs & lessons online. It keeps track of users’ private practice driving and lets family & friends be involved in the process.

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How the story started

For some time, the market of driving schools in Norway has been facing major challenges. Its old-fashioned approaches have led to a lack of transparency. Potential students simply have no idea how much time and money they must spend to obtain a driving license. Most schools use it to sell expensive programs with more lessons than needed.

Management of driving schools is costly with several administrators working simultaneously. Instructors don't spend their time efficiently wasting it on endless administrative work. Besides, no one tracks students' progress with driving.

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Understanding the challenges

Kör Teknologi AS decided to create a transparent, easy-to-use environment for obtaining a driving license and practicing driving – the first-ever educational platform Kör.

In a nutshell, Kör is the first digital school for drivers. The platform lets users book driving programs & lessons online, keeps track of their progress, and allows family & friends to be involved in the process.

So, when Kör Teknologi AS decided to build their first educational platform for Norwegian drivers, they trusted us with the product’s development. Their main goal was to create MVP (Minimum Viable Product), then go to users with the real app and test it. To define the product’s business goals & vision, Fulcrum started with the Discovery service.

Oleksii Sekundant

koer team

/06

Kör & Fulcrum

So, when Kör Teknologi AS decided to build their first educational platform for Norwegian drivers, they trusted us with the product’s development. Their main goal was to create MVP (Minimum Viable Product), then go to users with the real app and test it. To define the product’s business goals & vision, Fulcrum started with the Discovery service.

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Discovery stage

Workshop

Kör Teknologi AS has made some primary research on their side: they held interviews with the potential stakeholders – instructors, students, and their families. To take these data into work and finalize the client’s business objectives, and define the product’s functionality and scope of work, we hold a workshop with the Kör team.

During our 3-day workshop, we formulated the client’s business & project goals, stakeholder groups, app’s user types, risks (general, tech, and management risks), and actual roadmap of the project.

kor and fulcrum workshop

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Workshop deliverables

✅ Finalized product & project goals;

✅ Estimated risks of the project;

✅ Detailed stakeholders description;

✅ Outlined flows for all user types;

✅ Established outline of strategic partners;

✅ Approximate app’s functionality;

✅ Defined user types;

✅ Delivery roadmap for 2 next milestones.

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Main Student Flow

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Roadmap

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Architecture

In the pre-development stage, we had to define the product’s architecture. We had two main options to choose from Monolith or Microservices. After comparing these two architectures, and their pros and cons, we settled with Monolith. Why?

☑️ App’s data flow and service exchange were not 100% defined. In this case, Monolith apps allow you to set your deployment once and then simply adjust it afterward based on ongoing changes.

☑️ KOR’s development team was quite small. For Monolith, deployment and setting up CI/CD is much easier than in Microservices.

☑️ App’s load wasn’t that big. Since it was our first iteration and we didn’t expect a great number of users, the app’s load wasn’t high. For non-high loads, Monolith is a perfect solution.

☑️ Monolith development and maintenance costs are much lower and the processes are easier.

koer architecture

Monolithic Architecture

koer microservices architecture

Microservice Architecture

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Prototyping & Design

After we outlined approximate functionality and flows, our team started to work on prototyping and design of the app. We designed the app’s first screens, app wireframes, and clickable prototypes.

koer prototypes

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Branding

This sans-serif typeface is the system font for iOS, macOS, and tvOS, and includes a rounded variant. It provides a consistent, legible, and friendly typographic voice.

koer branding

Colors

koer typography

Typography

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Kör's User Journey

Step 1.
Registering profile

Secure and quick authorization via mobile phone. Each user has a personal profile with all personal information outlined.

Step 2.
Booking assessment lessons/starting a private practice

Depending on the goals:

Users proceed to professional training by booking the first assessment lesson with an instructor;
Students are able to practice driving privately by clicking the Drive button. They can train their driving skills without enrolling in any driving program. All ride details are saved in the app.

Step 3.
Adding emergency contacts and companions

Users can invite companions to Kör. They can track friends’ progress and see feedback from the driving instructor. An emergency contact is useful for admins if something should happen during a driving lesson.

Step 4.
Receiving a best-tailored driving program

After the assessment, the instructor will suggest a driving program best tailored to the student’s needs and skills;
Users can have a discount by paying the full cost of the program, or confirm their participation and pay for each lesson separately;
Students can track all lessons of the program in ‘Plan’ and their progress on the main page

Step 5.
Booking next lesson

Users schedule the next lesson at any convenient time and date.
Students select their pickup location by setting the map pin or entering an address. They may also save up to three favorite locations by pressing the heart symbol.
After the booking is done, users can see all details of the upcoming lesson: its time, date, location, instructor, etc.

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Tech stack

Kör’s technology stack is divided into 3 main groups: backend architecture, tech stack for admin & partner apps, and technologies used for student & instructor mobile apps.

koer tech stack

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admin security koer

Admin Security

The admin security of the app is supported by protection from xcrf, xss attacks. What’s more, HTTP-only tokens are kept in cookies to secure the app’s performance even more.

CI/CD

Setting up CI/CD

App’s continuous integration and delivery are performed through GitLab CI pipelines. It enables detecting errors if there are any as soon as possible and provides smoother integration.

3rd party integration koer

3rd party integrations

What concerns 3rd party services, the app is integrated with Nets Easy payment system which enables students and partners to pay for the lessons/programs inside the app. The Pushwoosh platform is also integrated with the app for independent push notifications.

scrum approach koer

SCRUM approach

For our project management, we use the SCRUM approach which is based on developing the product stage-by-stage to have the results in place now and there. That’s why we’re developing products in 2-week sprints. At the end of each sprint, we present a demo, and then we give a demo and the builds to the client for checking. Then, the new sprint begins.

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Features

Progress tracking

Users can track their progress, lessons they have completed & the number of upcoming lessons. There’s also an opportunity to see the instructor’s feedback and assessment.

Setting up own calendar

Instructors and students can see previous & upcoming lessons, read detailed info about the driving program, and shift their own availability.

View trip report

Users can add/edit information, add a text note to the trip, see the weather conditions, the time & date of the trip, and track the skills they’re good at and what still needs to be improved.

Lesson types

The app offers around 20 various services and lesson types for students who are learning to drive.

In-app payment system

The app offers an elaborated payment system available both for students and their families to pay for the driving program/lesson.

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Stats

2.5 mln NOK

since “soft launch” in August 2020, the company has sold driving lessons and courses for 2.5 million NOK

4.6 mln NOK

of investments were raised by Kör

Largest

driving school in Norway where people have already received their licenses.

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Client's review

Internal stakeholders and users alike are impressed with Fulcrum’s deliverables, citing their efficiency and noteworthy quality. Throughout the project, the team has been professional, collaborative, and dedicated, ensuring a smooth and successful engagement