Elsevier

The problem

Elsevier sought out an iPad optimized web app to expand the reach of their award winning ClinicalKey service that had previously been exclusive to desktop users. Elsevier had high-fidelity graphic mockups provided by a third party design firm, but needed a development team capable of bringing this vision to life.

Development

The web app was built using Sencha Touch due to the size and complexity of the interface. Sencha provides a robust framework that allowed Jarvus to produce a cohesive and easily extendable code-base while supporting advance features such as: data proxying, content formatting, and more than 50 screens with high resolution graphics.

The project took nine months to develop including: initial discovery, development, and quality assurance and focus testing. The actual development was completed in five months for a budget of $375,000.

Technical elements

Elsevier’s back-end API was optimized for the desktop, therefore it was necessary for Jarvus to create an API proxy within the Sencha application space that scraped the relevant data from the API, and optimized it for the touch interface. Jarvus recommended against this practice as it’s not a scalable or long term solution, but it was necessary for Elsevier to prove it’s concept before committing to redeveloping the back-end. In addition to scraping for relevant data, large content pieces needed to be formatted for presentation on a touch device over WiFi and cellular connections.