The Requirements
The Dorchester Group is a property investment group specialising in residential-led mixed-use developments that offer a more sustainable and better quality way of life to residents and the local area.
They wanted an ‘application’ for homeowners in one of their mixed-use residential developments which would allow the homeowners to book services and facilities online and securely communicate with each other on a stable social platform.
Blueberry bid against several other software development companies to win the contract and deliver a complete system in a relatively short turnaround time.
The Dorchester Group did not have a detailed specification for the project so we worked closely with them to help them scope out specific requirements of the system to ensure they had a solution that would meet their needs and expectations.
Our Solution
Using our own BBWT framework, we were able to rapidly build a web portal which integrated the GoCardless payment system so that local residents could easily book and pay for a variety of services and facilities offered at the residential development.
The website for the housing estate takes payments for services and facilities offered by the site via the GoCardless system. Users can select payment packages from a range of options that include monthly, annual, or a one-off charge plan, with selections replicated throughout the system.
At the time of development, GoCardless didn’t have a feature to provide recurring payment schedules (ie. monthly, annually) so we implemented a method of triggering these different schedules on a bespoke basis for the system.
During the project development, The Dorchester Group thought that it would also be useful to include a means for residents to post notices themselves and allow them to share news and information in a secure space. Since we had built the system using our BBWT framework, we were able to integrate a secure message board feature into the system relatively quickly and easily.
The Results
The Dorchester Group can now monitor the status of payments through the GoCardless portal and analyse the features that homeowners use most, which enable them to maintain and improve the system as needed.
Feedback about the site from the Group management team and end users has been very positive, regarding both design and functionality of the portal. Revenue generation through the site has been excellent and is predicted to increase further once the remaining homeowners are brought on board by the Dorchester Group management team.