Lagardère Paris Racing
Lagardère Paris Racing is a very high-end sports club suffering from aging infrastructure and a significant delay in digitalization.
Club access is only by magnetic card, making family access management impossible. Communication between members and the club is limited to a newsletter by email, and there is almost no option to book classes online.
The challenge was significant: create a complete digital ecosystem to modernize this prestigious club’s experience. We developed a mobile application for iOS and Android, connected to a web platform, allowing management of classes, wallet, training camps, and club access via a dematerialized family card.
The application also includes a news feed with photos and videos, as well as notifications to maintain the connection with the club.
Technologies
Here are the main technologies and services used:
| Category | Technologies/Services |
|---|---|
| Languages |    |
| Frameworks |  |
| Communication technologies |   |
| Cloud & Infrastructure |   |
| Notifications |   |
| Version control |  |
Technical challenges
-
Complex interconnection
Establish a robust connection with a booking provider, calendar, and club access control via turnstile. A real integration challenge! -
Innovative dematerialized card
Implementation of a dematerialized card using NFC/Bluetooth technology to replace traditional magnetic cards. -
Long-term planning
Manage the planning of a large-scale project while coordinating the team and client over several months. -
Complete UI/UX
Handle all the UI/UX part of the club, redesigning tools and the showcase website web and mobile.
Successes
- Respect of schedule and specifications despite numerous modifications on the fly
- Complete development of a end-to-end functional mobile and web platform
- User experience appreciated by club members
- Successful integration of NFC technologies and push notifications
The fact that we were able to deliver a functional product despite technical constraints shows the robustness of the developed approach.
Failures & learnings
The project never went beyond the beta testing phase due to a poor quality access provider, making turnstile usage impossible and the API unsuitable.
Lessons learned:
- Rigorous provider selection: It is imperative to be extremely rigorous in the selection of third-party providers, particularly for critical elements like access control
- Solid contractual framework: While it is essential to remain flexible during long-term project development, it is crucial to establish a solid framework on what should or should not be done in the quote and initial workload
A bad provider can compromise the entire project, even with an excellent development team.
Experience feedback
This project taught me the importance of partner selection in a digital project. Even with an excellent team and solid technology, a failing third-party provider can sabotage all the work accomplished.
Key points:
- Early validation of critical providers before committing
- Integration tests from the beginning of the project
- Backup plan for critical components
- Transparent communication with the client about technical risks
Partner quality is as important as code quality. A project cannot be more robust than its weakest link.
Thank you for reading!