Mobile and web application / Education
iOS and Android drill app with a web admin and licensing panelDiscovery, UX/UI, mobile, web and cloud development in a dedicated team since 2016
Mobile and web apps for learning marching-band drill on the field
Marching bands at schools and colleges learn drill from printed drill books and manual coordination: each performer has to find their position, path and step size for every page of a show. The Ultimate Drill Book (UDB) client had a conceptual framework for a digital replacement and needed an engineering partner to turn it into a working product.
An app in which students study their own part of each show while directors see the overall structure and check each performer's position. It had to work online and offline, be readable outdoors, and be backed by role-based administration and licensing.
- Product
- iOS and Android drill app with a web admin and licensing panel
- Buyer
- Education and performance-software companies that need field-usable mobile apps with role-based web administration
- Engagement
- Discovery, UX/UI, mobile, web and cloud development in a dedicated team since 2016
- Indeema scope
- Discovery and specification, UX/UI design, iOS and Android apps, Web admin and licensing, Cloud back end and DevOps, Continued development
The product need
What had to become possible
An app in which students study their own part of each show while directors see the overall structure and check each performer's position. It had to work online and offline, be readable outdoors, and be backed by role-based administration and licensing.
Ownership, made clear
Where the work started and what Indeema owned
Starting system
Product concept
The client provided a conceptual framework of the desired functions and objectives, deep domain knowledge and an initial design for the first iteration.
Earlier admin portal
An older licensing/admin portal existed and was later replaced by a new one.
Indeema owned
Discovery and specification
Analyze requirements, review rehearsal and performance videos supplied by the client, prototype, and write a specification with documented risks and a test plan.
UX/UI design
Take over UX/UI leadership after the first iteration and iterate designs with the client until approval.
iOS and Android apps
Build native mobile apps for drill study and rehearsal, then migrate them to SwiftUI and to Kotlin with Jetpack Compose over time.
Web admin and licensing
Build a new admin portal for managing end-user licenses, replacing the previous one.
Cloud back end and DevOps
Design and run the AWS back end that serves the apps and admin panel, sized for growth and seasonal peaks.
Continued development
Keep adding features over a long-running dedicated-team engagement.
Worked with
AWS
EC2, load balancing and S3 host the Node.js back end used by both the admin panel and the mobile apps over HTTPS.
Real-time channel
Socket.IO/WebSockets support real-time updates between clients and the back end.
Product constraints
What made the engineering difficult
- 01
Usable while marching
Performers use the app on the field while carrying instruments and equipment, often in bright sunlight, so the interface must stay readable and operable in those conditions.
- 02
Online and offline operation
Students and directors need their drill even without connectivity, so the apps had to work in both online and offline modes.
- 03
Accurate movement guidance
Positions, paths and step sizes must be computed precisely from drill data, including vectors, yard-line crossings and midway points.
- 04
Seasonal peaks
Usage concentrates in rehearsal seasons, when a large share of users can be active at the same time, so the back end had to absorb peaks without degrading.
- 05
Many roles, one product
Super admins, school admins, directors and students each need different access to administration, finances, personnel and drill content.
Engineering judgement
Decisions that shaped the product
Test prototypes outdoors
The discovery team tested prototypes outdoors in sunlight to confirm that screens remain comfortable and legible where the app is really used.
Compute movement in the app
Algorithms calculate vectors, yard-line crossings, midway points and step sizes so performers get exact guidance for each count.
Pair animation with audio
Drill animation is synchronized with customizable audio, such as tempo control, for rehearsal.
Role-based access across web and mobile
One access model drives the admin panel and the apps, from full super-admin access to student-only views.
Modernize the native stacks
The iOS app moved to SwiftUI, enabling iOS 17 Live Activities with interactive buttons, and the Android app moved from Java to Kotlin 2.0 and Jetpack Compose.
Scale the back end for peaks
Server optimization, load balancing and AWS cloud services were used to handle high-load periods.
Delivered product capability
What the product can do
- 01
Drill study for performers
Students see their position, counts, step size and path for each page of the drill.
- 02
Director overview
Directors view the overall drill structure and check each performer's position.
- 03
Rehearsal mode
Synchronized drill animation with adjustable tempo and audio options.
- 04
Role-specific accounts
Settings and permissions for super admins, school admins, directors and students.
- 05
Licensing and administration
A web admin panel for managing end-user licenses, registration and login.
- 06
Online and offline use
Apps that keep working without a connection.
- 07
Scalable AWS back end
Cloud infrastructure with load balancing, sized for user growth.
Product change
What changed for the product team
Marching-band programs gained a digital drill book: performers study and rehearse their individual drill on iOS and Android, and directors and administrators manage people, licenses and the overall show from a web panel. The product has kept evolving through later platform migrations and feature releases, and the client went on to plan related digital products.
For a team building a mobile product that is used outdoors, in motion and across distinct roles, the case shows field-condition UX testing, precise movement computation, offline support, role-based administration and a back end sized for seasonal peaks.
- Delivered native iOS and Android drill apps with a web admin and licensing panel on an AWS back end.
- Delivered movement calculations, rehearsal animation with audio, role-based accounts and offline operation.
Product evidence
A closer look at the product
Technology, in context
Swift · SwiftUI · Kotlin · Jetpack Compose · Retrofit · Dagger2 · Room · Angular · Node.js · Hapi.js · Socket.IO · MongoDB · Redis · AWS EC2 · AWS load balancing · Amazon S3 · Grafana · Firebase Crashlytics
A comparable product problem?
Ultimate Drill Book (UDB) app
Bring the product context, the system that already exists and the engineering decision you need to make.