Modernizing A Multi‑Region Platform to Handle Over 500K Users While Eliminating Tech Debt
TL;DR: Here’s How We Scaled Urban Point into a Growth Powerhouse
- Urban Point’s PHP monolith was overwhelmed by traffic across Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, resulting in frequent crashes, sluggish load times, and stalled growth.
- We helped them migrate to Node.js microservices, consolidated mobile apps in React Native, and introduced automated CI/CD, real‑time monitoring, and carrier‑billing integration.
- This results in 0% crash rate, 1.4 sec average load time, 100K+ downloads on Android and 495K+ iOS installs, 50% revenue uplift, and a scalable foundation for the future.
Urban Point’s Transformation:
The Numbers Tell the Story
4.9
Average Rating
500K+
Downloads
Available on:
When Ambition Met an Outdated Stack
Urban Point began as an MBA project and quickly scaled into a regional lifestyle‑incentives powerhouse, connecting shoppers with curated deals across Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman. Yet behind the glossy interface lay a brittle PHP monolith. As user counts climbed, the platform suffered:
- Frequent crashes that drove support tickets through the roof
- Load times north of 5 seconds, fueling churn
- Merchant frustration as analytics lagged and deals failed to render
- A busy 50‑person operations team mired in firefighting
These issues threatened Urban Point’s hard‑won market momentum and undermined its promise of seamless savings.
A Design‑Thinking Rescue Blueprint
Clarity before code wasn’t just a slogan; it guided every decision. We kicked off with immersive UX workshops, bringing actual shoppers and merchant partners into the room. We mapped every touchpoint that includes searching deals, browsing categories, checkout flows, and surfaced critical friction: unresponsive screens, confusing error messages, and an opaque payment journey.
From these insights, we framed our STAR objectives:
- Situation: A high‑visibility app crippled by instability and latency.
- Task, Stabilize, modernize, and elevate UX to boost retention and revenue.
- Action: Execute an API‑first rebuild, mobile redesign, carrier‑billing integration, and continuous UX optimization.
- Result: A rock‑solid app, stellar ratings, and 50%+ revenue growth.
These issues threatened Urban Point’s hard‑won market momentum and undermined its promise of seamless savings.
Our Transformation Strategy
Discovery & Strategic Design
- User Journeys & Wireframes: Conducted 20+ one‑on‑one user interviews and sketched low‑fi prototypes to validate new flows.
- Technical Audit: Benchmarked API response times, crash metrics, and server KPIs—pinpointing PHP bottlenecks and database locks.
API‑First Microservices
- Node.js Migration: Transformed 15 legacy PHP endpoints into independent Node.js services.
- Redis Caching & Optimized Queries: Reduced database load by 40% and cut average response time to under 200ms.
- Automated CI/CD: Built a Jenkins pipeline with blue‑green deployments, slashing release time by 30%.
React Native Redesign
- Component Library: Developed a shared UI kit for buttons, lists, and modals—ensuring consistency across Android and iOS.
- Performance Tweaks: Implemented image‑lazy‑loading, deferred rendering for off‑screen elements, and meaningful skeleton loaders to mask network latency.
- Accessibility & Localization: Added dynamic font scaling and RTL support for Arabic audiences.
Seamless Carrier‑Billing Integration
- Partnered deeply with Ooredoo’s engineering team to embed subscription flows directly into the app.
- Designed intuitive screens with progressive disclosure, guiding users through plan selection, confirmation, and renewal reminders without redirects.
Continuous UX Experimentation & Support
- Bi‑weekly A/B Tests: Optimized button colors, error copy, and onboarding sequences, improving retention significantly.
- 24/7 Operations Desk: Real‑time monitoring via Sentry notifications and Slack‑based alerting ensured sub‑5‑minute incident response.
The Ongoing Partnership, Future
Proofing Growth
When every decision counts, you need more than data—you need a strategic partner who can turn that data into a blueprint for success. Get in touch with us today and discover how Veroke’s Strategic Analysis services can guide you toward sustained growth, innovation, and a stronger competitive edge.
Ready to build software designed for generations? Let’s partner to transform your vision into a resilient, user‑delighting reality.
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