Jumpilot - attraction system for amusement parks

Rapid Development Process in use: Case study of Jumpilot

How does the Rapid Development Process work in practice? This was the latest challenge for our client – and for us as well. Follow this article to learn how we contributed to building Jumpilot – an innovative IoT solution.

With this approach our client gets from us full system with:

• activity sensors/bracelets with custom algorithms to monitor activity
• entertainment TV kiosks
• scoreboards
• backend system
• devops and cloud infrastructure

STEP 1 Problem definition and market research Our client reached out to us to solve a common problem of amusement parks. They’ve noticed that most guests visit the park only once, even though they enjoyed the overall experience. They wanted to develop a solution which could keep visitors more engaged, entertained and loyal.

By this, guests were supposed to use the park's facilities longer and more frequently. Of course, Jumpilot was designed also to increase the profitability and to support the park in gaining a great competitive advantage.

STEP 2 Service Outline The task was quite challenging. We needed to prepare a tool which would be: appealing for children, in both technology and design easily controlled by the staff safe for kids and adjusted to their typical behaviour technically manageable in the budget, which was obviously quite limited in the case of a startup

Developing the device which is able to monitor the individual results and to organize competitions for users was a chance to make the whole jumping experience more fun and engaging.

STEP 3 Product mockups and testing Our challenge was to build a device not constraining the moves of children. Also, the solution needed to allow many data transmitters to work simultaneously, in real time, and stay resistant to actions like deleting duplicates or resetting the device.

So, as the next step of our Rapid Development Process, we started to test various ideas and technologies to design the solution. Our development team prepared the first mockups to test key assumptions with both users and customers. Based on this, we could prove that our ideas were right and move on to the proper project development.

STEP 4 Software architecture Right after starting the proper development process, we first had to create an engine to run and control basic functionalities of the game. In addition, we needed to build a functional interface able to adjust to various screen sizes.

However, it was still not the end. Once we produced backend and frontend layers, we still needed to synchronize them so that all the data collected from visitors could be processed and displayed on the target devices in real time. With the help of our most experienced developers, we created another layer allowing the communication between backend and frontend. Eventually, we managed to build the solution which smoothly reacts to all events happening in the game in real time, without delays.

To build Jumpilot, we implemented software solutions dedicated to IoT, big data and real time messaging applications. We used programming languages such as Java, C, Python and Java Script. This tech stack gives us the best results in terms of stability and cost efficiency.

The special solution used in this project was Apache Kafka – a message broker. This is the tool which allows the system to collect data from sensors in real time. Thanks to MQTT, a transport protocol integrated with Apache Kafka, the solution is able to collect big amounts of data. Park administrators can review the data via ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) and generate functional dashboards including number of users per day, comparison of activities, weekly summaries, and many others.

STEP 5 Proof of concept The solution was first installed in the first amusement park located in Sweden. Jumpilot managed to successfully increase both frequency of visits and profits. According to the data provided by the client, thanks to our solution now 97% of children declare their wish to revisit the park, and 64% stay there longer than before (on average). The results were simply spectacular and corresponded with the founders' expectations. This helped them to start their expansion and quickly move on to the next step of the Rapid Development process.

STEP 6 Scaling Thanks to our Rapid Development strategy based on adapting already existing frameworks such as Kafka, MQTT, Elasticsearch or React.js, the client could immediately start scaling their solution. They successfully installed Jumpilot in the first park after only 4 months from the kick off sessions. Now the startup can focus on getting more funds for product development, acquiring more clients and implementing the solution in the next parks located in Sweden and Poland.

Our cooperation with Jumpilot proved that a functional MVP can be prepared in an extremely short time and that clients can be attracted even in a very first stage of development. To read more about customer acquisition, go to our article about building traction for a startup.

To learn more about software development for startups and our Rapid Development approach, feel free to contact us. We will be happy to assist you on your project and provide you with functional, innovative and fully customized technology solutions.

Also, hear what our developers say about this project:

Bright colors and lively animations are the inherent part of keeping children interested and provide them with a real gamification feeling. As a result, our team managed to meet children’s expectations because 97% of kids reported they desire to jump more.

Technology:

• Java
• C++
• React
• MQTT
• Elastic
• PCB manufacturing
• 3d printing
• Prototyping of consumer electronics