Yearn called us to develop a customized web application for furniture rental. When we began to move forward on the functionalities, we noticed that the clients lacked a thorough research on the market in which they were trying to insert themselves, so we helped them in the process of improving their business proposal and tailored the app to fit the services and objectives outlined.

It is quite usual that startups arrive at XOOR without a Customer Feedback study or a substantial Market Research on which to base their strategic decisions in order to get a product or service that fits perfectly in the market.

When that happens, our teams assist them to give shape to their ideas and turn them into viable projects that base their definitions on data, through a process we call discovery.

On the other hand, as was the case with Yearn, we moved forward with a staged development plan to avoid slowing down delivery deadlines. We coded some initial functionalities that later, as business decisions were adjusted, had to be iterated to adapt to the needs of the clients.

Thanks to our collaboration, Yearn built a business model with a future growth planning. In order to guide them both in the present and along the roadmap they set out, we designed a versatile digital product that allows extension and the inclusion of other types of categories to the rental options. In this way, they will be able to use the same platform regardless of the size and services offered, simply by applying a few modifications to the web application.

Yearn is a UK company that seeks to help men and women to create their homes in a pleasant, easy and planet-friendly way.

With an innovative and ecological system, Yearn has been born to solve the inconvenience for parents of having to change the furniture in their children's rooms as they grow and have new needs.

After talking to Yearn and understanding their needs, we organized a team consisting mainly of programmers. As the project grew, it became necessary to bring in a PM to coordinate the day-to-day work, and consequently we gained more agility. Since Yearn was a startup, there was no one specialized in the management of this type of technology projects. Our PM was able to anticipate the needs of the professionals so they had all the materials they needed to complete the tasks without any roadblocks.

At the final stages, we included a QA specialist to test the product. The objective was to make sure that there were no serious technical errors, which would cause additional costs in fixing problems and having to relaunch the web application. At the same time, we wanted to guarantee a good experience so that users would be satisfied with the product from the beginning and we would not have to invest resources in "winning them back".

In constant communication with the clients, we developed an e-commerce site that takes over all the logistics that involves rental, transfer and payment of the spaces. The interface was developed with React + Typescript + GraphQL. And the backend with NodeJS + PostgreSQL + Typescript + GraphQL.

In the system we created, those who offer their items or spaces for rent and those who hire them, have parameters to establish: dimensions, color, age, condition (new/used), brand, location, among others. With this information, the software links people according to their place of residence, interests and needs; and also calculates the approximate or recommended rental price based on all those characteristics.

We created a two-part payment system. One for "Yearners" who wish to purchase items; and another for those who will get money for renting them, "Earners".

People who put their items for rent leave a bank account to receive money. The application is responsible for linking this account with an external payment service, Stripe, which ensures the security of sensitive data so that they are not recorded in Yearn. Besides, it saves infrastructure and development time.

When the Yearner makes his/her decision, he or she chooses how to make the transaction, fills in his credit card details and presses the "pay" button. Yearn calculates the amounts and fees, saves the dates for the invoices - if there will be several payments - and sends it to the external platform so that each month the corresponding payment is executed. Once confirmed, the date and logistics for furniture delivery can be scheduled. Likewise, the person who rented the space receives the corresponding money each month in the account he/she declared.

Once the application was ready, Yearn told us that the business projections for the following years could imply the need to incorporate other rental categories. In order to assist our clients and the evolution of their product, we designed a new architecture in the app that would allow it to scale in the future. In this way, it will be possible to incorporate new types of furniture or rental items, including other aspects that are not covered today.

The overall aim of the project was to provide Yearn with a versatile product that would not limit them, but on the contrary, could be just as functional if their objectives were transformed, and that could always respond to the users' needs.

If you think we can help your company or you want to join our team, write to us! You can do it to hola@xoor.io or through our social networks.