Hello there 🙂 … it’s been a while.
We have been so caught up with website jobs for various clients and fixing bugs on COAD Campus LMS. Which made us think, how about some insight and what we have learnt so far.
Here are our 10 key points:
- You plan on building a system – fantastic! Put it all on paper. Think it thru’ step by step.
- Consult widely especially with people in the industry that the system is meant for.
- Borrow ideas – no need to reinvent the wheel – just make it go smoother.
- Data storage is King. Consider all your options wisely and most importantly think about scalability and costs that you will incur.
- Fix bugs as they pop up – since there will be more along the way.. haha
- Test with real users, early. Not your fellow devs, not your team – the actual people who’ll be clicking around at 7am before their first class or their first sale. They’ll find things you never would.
- Document as you go, not after. Future you (or whoever inherits the codebase) will thank present you. We’ve learnt this one the hard way more than once.
- Backups are not optional. Neither is a plan for what happens when something breaks at the worst possible time – because it will, usually on a Friday.
- Support doesn’t end at launch – honestly, that’s when it really begins. Budget time (and patience) for the questions, the “it’s not working” messages and the small tweaks that keep users happy.
- Celebrate the small wins. A system is never really “done” – it grows with the people using it. So take a moment to enjoy each milestone before moving on to the next fix, feature or client.
These are from our experience building systems over time and come to think of it, they have been quite a few: – Python program to clean up data – Exam card system to keep records & print out exam cards – E-learning platform for notes & quizzes (built on Moodle) – CRM portal that checks on follow ups of clients and conversions (still ongoing) – COAD Campus which is an LMS & ERP in one, managing all school operations – student, staff, academics, inventory & more.
Lets just say we have built quite a bit and with each solution, we learnt a few new hacks based on the challenges we faced.
It’s not going to be easy however, we assure you, it will be an adventure. Build today!
