How CHILLICODE formed a relationship between a startup and The New York Bridal Association?

Pullquest is a Los Angeles-based startup. It has created a platform that promotes collaboration between designers and stylists.

On Pullquest, fashion designers showcase their creations, while stylists can find outfits for their celebrity clients. Be it a casual photo shoot or Grammy and Oscar-level social events, Pullquest is a place to go for those seeking an appropriate outfit. The platform saves stylists time, money, and effort, while designers get a chance to market and expose their work to a larger audience.

The New York Bridal Association, aka the Bridal Council , took notice of Pullquest during the pandemic. They proposed that Pullquest hold an online bridal fashion show in the fall. Several thousand users were to attend the show, but Pullquest did not have the proper resources and features for such a large-scale event.

The platform lacked live streaming, chat, or a convenient system for buying and selling items. The guys from CHILLICODE worked on solving these problems.

Tasks

Initially, Pullquest had a website created by a third-party development team. Our task was to improve the site and tidy up its logic and operation. However, the initial intention of improving someone else's code was misguided, since searching for the numerous errors and fixing them shifts the deadline. Our best option was to develop the site from scratch. We started with a refactoring, i.e. reworking the source code to make it more understandable and manageable. The aim was to simplify working on the website, to save future developers time and effort, and to ensure Pullquest can adapt to the goals and tasks at any given moment. One might say that Pullquest has found a new life thanks to our efforts.

As soon as we finished this stage, Pullquest was offered to host an event, meaning more tasks for us. To begin with, the site lacked optimization. We had to ensure the platform could handle an influx of users while offering a decent user experience without lags and endless downloads. Creating a separate platform for the upcoming event, offering exclusive access, and maintaining integration with the main Pullquest website were of the essence as well.

The upcoming event needed a suitable promotion. Creating a landing page that would encourage users to register was required. The Bridal Council intended to present new clothing items to wholesale buyers during the event, so we had to develop the wholesale purchasing functionality from scratch. We kept in mind that offline fashion events are social gatherings in essence, and networking is an integral part of them. We wanted to preserve this aspect online. Therefore, we needed a chat room functionality that allowed sharing attachments and links.

At the same time, Pullquest needed a user-account management system. The admin panel had to become a useful and simple tool for giving users access to the platform and activating and deactivating accounts. Pullquest's main idea assumes that designers present their products and stylists buy them. So, it was necessary to ensure the assignment of these roles to users. The buying and selling routine should be convenient, clear, and safe for users. It was pivotal to create a size chart and a cost calculator while adding all of this in a convenient filter. The goal was to make finding the necessary products easy for buyers. To better market their products on the platform, sellers needed information about views and orders. It was also necessary to ensure the security and ease of buying, which meant installing a shopping cart and implementing a trustworthy payment mechanism.

To top it all off, we had to provide additional functionality to users, such as profile personalization and invites, to promote more engagement with the platform.

CHILLICODE’s Contribution

Frontend became easier to deal with

Thanks to our devs, Pullquest can easily change the frontend, i.e. the interface, images, animations, product cards, and everything that the user sees and interacts with, depending on a particular event's needs. This often requires intervention in the backend - the internal processes of the site, which puts additional strain on the project team and potentially leads to errors capable of disrupting the website's operation. We got around this issue by scaling the existing system, rather than splitting it into two separate projects. Our developers opted for the flexible Elasticsearch system, and thanks to its smart search engine, splitting the data between the main site and the online event platform became way more manageable. The search engine allowed us to add criteria to search and filter data at high speed. Spoiler: the platform can now host similar and even not-so-similar events by quickly changing the frontend and not interfering with the source code, saving the Pullquest team time and effort, as well as protecting against potential bugs caused by manipulating the site's internal workflows.

Implemented a live-streaming online platform

We launched an online platform for events, adding live streaming features. This feature was especially relevant due to COVID-19 restrictions. Pullquest users can now follow fashion events right from home.

Created a landing page

As was required by Bridal Council's brand book, we created a landing page on Pullquest. The landing page’s purpose is to encourage the user to take action. In our case, the landing offered to register for the event and to attend it. We added a timer to remind users the event is approaching. The landing page worked as a registration form that gives exclusive access to the event.

Added a quick distribution of access

Thanks to the developers from CHILLICODE, Pullquest can now quickly grant access to both regular and exclusive platforms via a special checkbox in the admin panel. This was done to simplify this process. All Pullquest has to do is check the box to grant access. This allowed Pullquest to avoid lengthy processing of each request.

Introduced simplified registration

The designer's profile now features a generate a link function. The link is valid for 30 days. The stylist follows the link and can immediately use all the available features.

Set up the purchasing and sales process

To achieve this, we had to create different roles for the website users, dividing them into stylists and designers. We ensured Pullquest could conveniently administer those roles. The designer role allows selling goods, and we added both wholesale and retail selling options. Any seller is interested in views and order statistics, which we added to the designer profile. This allowed designers to better understand the trends of demand for their work. We also implemented several tools to make the trading process simple and enjoyable. Among them:

-A handy size chart with an order cost calculator so shoppers can find what they're looking for;
-Shopping cart;
-Secure payment via Stripe;

Created a system for managing user accounts

Our reworked admin panel allows hiding, activating, and deactivating user profiles, and assigning them a role or several roles at once.

Implemented a chat feature

Chat is a key element for user communication on the website. To create it, we resorted to the WebSocket protocol. It provided a stable exchange of messages, attachments, and links in real-time.

Automated the creation and sending of notifications

Thanks to this solution, Pullquest users are always aware of the latest news, updates, and orders.

Reworked designer profiles

We allowed making designer profiles public. When the profile page started resembling a social media account, users became eager to share it with more people. This solution had a positive impact on the platform's promotion. In addition, we implemented creating unique links to designer profiles. This is a small yet important step towards recognizing the creativity of Pullquest users.

Challenges

Every web development project is always full of challenges, and Pullquest was no exception for us.

The first challenge was the limited time. Only 5 weeks - that was the deadline. This project was indeed a true test of speed, flexibility, and the ability to make quick decisions.

Working without any preliminary design and planning was a peculiar aspect of our journey. We worked "on the fly", analyzing user reactions and adapting the site in real-time. If there was no positive feedback from users, we had to change everything at once. Due to the constant need to change what had already been done, we were unable to move on to the next tasks for a long time.

The most daunting challenge for us was developing the filter functionality. We had to develop an understandable logic capable of processing a large amount of data while taking into account a lot of product categories. The filter malfunctioned several times after release, and we had to go back to refine it. Elasticsearch came to the rescue, providing high search speed, scalability, and resistance to failures.

Another difficulty was adapting the server capabilities to increased loads. Imagine this: when large events are held on the platform, Pullquest is simultaneously visited by thousands of users. It is as if suddenly the whole city decided to visit the same place at once, and the organizers would have to puzzle over how to use the available space optimally.

Thousands of users were putting a tremendous strain on Pullquest's resources, especially when it came to hosting live events. We needed to ensure the stability of the platform during these influxes, avoiding loss of quality of service and hindrances to the user experience. We had to spend many hours diving into the intricacies of code optimization and load scalability.

Results

01
After the wedding event, Pullquest got mentioned in the New York Times . They noted that the collaboration between Pullquest and Bridal Council showed how much modern technology makes it easier for fashion designers to find clients. This recognition shows that we've done something cool. Pullquest
02The received data speaks for itself as well: the reports we've provided to designers have helped them understand the demand for their products in detail, which resulted in a positive impact on the wholesale trade. This led to a revival of activity on Pullquest, with users visiting the platform more often and buying clothes on it. After the event, we doubled the number of available reports. The report feature is used by every second designer on Pullquest. This statistic proves we have achieved our goals by skillfully implementing the key features, for which there is an active demand among users.
03Our efforts have also benefited the Pullquest team. They no longer need to interfere with the source code to customize the platform for a new event, administration has become much easier, and the site handles thousands of users with ease.
04It's worth noting that we achieved all of this in a short period - just five weeks, which is a testament to the ability of our developers to handle projects of any complexity.

Who worked on the project?

Project Manager
Two frontend developers
Two backend developers
A QA tester

Let’s Discuss

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