Building Unisala: A Tale of Experiments and Purpose | Series 1

The Evolution of Unisala: A 4 year journey:

The first chapter of the Unisala story began 4 years ago (2020-2021). I was in my senior year of undergraduate, the first version was launched in the android playstore.

The idea was very basic & simple:

A simple app designed for international students to get into USA universities.

The project was launched as a Proof of concept and experimentation of an idea. From the launch to till date. Who could have predicted that this journey would involve so many experiments?

1. From the features to fundamentals
2. From functionality to core vision
3. From programming language to infrastructure

Every aspect has been iterated, refined & reimagined. What started as the work of an amateur student has transformed into the creation of a well-revised architect.

This is first thread in a series focused on transferring the knowledge, i've gained as the developer of Unisala.com. Having grown from an amateur developer to architecting unisala.com

Through this series, i will dive into the thought process behind key decisions, the problems faced & the lessons i've learned along the way.

My goal is to create a resource that serves as:

• Comprehensive Documentation: Provide a detailed documentation including its architecture, core components, and workflows.
• Capturing the Thought Process: Document the reasoning behind key decisions, the challenges faced, and lessons learned throughout the journey.
• Simplifying System Design: Help dev understand the system’s design by breaking down complex concepts with visuals, examples, and clear explanations.
• Reviewing and Improving: Critically analyse the current system design to identify strengths, address weaknesses, and explore opportunities for optimisation and scalability.
• A Journey of Experiments and Purpose here at Unisala.com.

Initial Day Features:

Initially as mentioned in the bio of the app, it was designed for international students who wanted to study higher education in USA universities. In the first version the platform had features like:

1. Search University
2. University Profile Page
3. Fees & Grants
4. Admission criteria & Test score requirement
5. Fall Enrolment details
6. Library information
7. User Profile features like:
8. Create accounts
9. Like a university
10. Liked list of university

From Features to Fundamentals:

In the early days, i was very much an amateur, with limited tools & exposure under my belt. Each iteration taught us valuable lessons, about what worked, what didn't and what a startup team truly needs to thrive. While i had a clear vision of what i wanted to build, i lacked the experience to draw critical lines or prioritise aspects beyond the core functionality.

For example:

1. I focused entirely on What the features would be? and the end goal.
2. Without fully appreciating the value of other equally important experiences like:
3. User experience (UX)
4. User interfaces (UI) design
5. Search engine optimisation (SEO).

It wasn’t until I realised that elements weren’t just about usability, they were fundamental to the overall platform’s growth, reach, and success.

We focused on pushing out functionality features at rapid pace. We were driven by the desire to solve every problem students faced. In doing so, we experimented with

1. Project management
2. Working methodology
3. Various functionality & feature ideas
4. Tech stacks, often pivoting to find a perfect fit.

In the early days of the team, we didn't even have a project board, every user story & features discussed in the meeting lived in our heads. I know it was already 2020, but the lack of experience & accountability in the team made our approach far too careless.

A profound question reshaped our entire approach:

Why would user download an app without trying it from website first?

This question didn't come from an end user but from a moment of introspection.

How would we share and market the app?

How would we show user it's value?

I realised like many others, i'm hesitant to download an unknown app, but i'm far more willing to click on a link & experience something before committing.

This shifted our perspective entirely and led us to rethink our fundamentals.

At the time, my technical knowledge was largely confined to javascript and few libraries, which influenced my decision to choose Ionic React, It seemed like the brilliant one stop solution that promised rapid development & cross platform compatibility.

I thought, Why wouldn't everyone use this? it's Perfect!

React Native -> Ionic React.

Thus the transition of our app from React Native into Ionic React

The Challenges of Unisala’s Ionic Phase

A detail optimization thread

We started rebuilding the app from Scratch, this time focusing on creating a platform rather than just an app. Unisala second version was built using Ionic React, chosen for its promise of cross-platform development, a single codebase for web, Android, and iOS. Initially, this sounded perfect for a startup, especially since we had experience building apps with Ionic.

We experimented with new features almost every week. Following features were developed:

University Related features:

1. University Search: Find universities based on user preferences.
2. Uni suggestions: Match universities based on academic performance.
3. Scholarship Searches: Help students identify scholarship opportunities.
4. Consultant service to suggest university.
5. Professor and department ratings
6. University Rankings by Department: Provide insights into the best programs in various fields.

User related features:

1. Newsfeed: A personalised feed of updates and information.
2. Spaces: Dedicated sections for community engagement and interaction.
3. Organization Pages: Platforms for student organisations, like NSAs, to manage resources and events.
4. Social Networking: Connect with peers and alumni.

Messaging: Direct communication for collaboration and discussions.

As team of five developers we iterated on the product and features numerous time more over 1000 commits in total.

Each iteration refined the platform. These experiments not only shaped the product but also helped define our core vision.

At once, our core vision was:

Helping students make better decision!

We focused entirely on building something that's helpful for students.

In this next thread, we will discuss about the analytics and how costly it proved for us neglecting it.