How We Built an Educational App for Lawyers from the Ground Up, Ginger Snail

We divided the process into three iterations:

• create functionality and integration of subscriptions;
• implement an administrative panel from scratch;
• work on the server part and construction of databases.

Completed tasks:

• develop registration options for different roles (student, lawyer, other) and email verification;
• enable the user to change their email, password, and edit their Profile;
• introduce modules on different areas of law: contract law, constitutional law, medical law, and so on;
• add training content within each module by topic;

• implement quick search and filter content, as well as the ability to add it to bookmarks "for the future";
• create a monetization system with a free trial module, a monthly/annual subscription with auto-renewal;
• develop Decks options with drag and drop navigation and Cards (search, selecting, move, create, edit);
• implement the Quiz functionality, where users can test their knowledge in a particular area of law.

Completed tasks:

• design a user-friendly UI;
• create complex drag and drop interfaces using the React DnD toolkit;
• add features to manage content, such as customizing questions and answers based on cases for quizzes;

• add features to manage subscriptions to topic modules;
• implement different levels of content nesting to create a structure that is convenient for the target audience;
• validate the data entered by the user and display the corresponding errors.

Completed tasks:

• build an app architecture based on the Node.js software platform and Nest.js framework;
• organize data reception, processing, and analysis using PostgreSQL and Redis;
• automate processes related to app delivery and deployment through Docker and Kubernetes;

• provide services communication with internal TCP connection in an internal Docker overlay network or Kubernetes SVC internal network;
• test the product for technical defects and compliance with business requirements.

There were several barriers in the process, which we overcame successfully:

• Integrating content subscriptions into the App Store. The challenge was both integrating correctly and testing cases with subscriptions, canceling subscriptions, and restoring previously purchased products.
• Development of the admin panel. Since we created the admin panel from scratch, we had to pay attention to content typing with nesting levels, ordering, and validation of input values.

• Industry specifics. The use of the app was limited to a narrow thematic focus. In the first stage, we added English Law. We plan to develop in other directions as well.

Register / Login to account

Registration in the app takes less than five minutes. It is enough to enter your email, verify, make up a password and add personal data: name, surname, role (student, lawyer, other), country, school, and courses. You can subscribe to modules right away.

Profiles

The created event can be updated, for example, to change the date of the event. If the event is no longer relevant, it is easy to cancel it with one click. Also, in editing, we have provided the function Lock This Event.

Study modules

The app contains modules on various areas of law: Contract law, Tort law, Land law, Constitutional law, Medical law, Criminal law. Students can choose one or more modules to study and test their knowledge. Each module presents relevant and reliable information on a specific topic in an intuitive format.

Buy modules from the App Store

The user can purchase the module directly from the App Store on a monthly or annual basis. The subscription will automatically renew at the end of the selected period. You can cancel the subscription or restore a previously purchased product if necessary.

Free trial

Everyone can use the free trial module subscription. There can only be one free trial module. Although such content has some limitations, it is a good opportunity for users who want to test the app's usefulness.

Search & filter

We implemented search and content filtering to improve the user experience. In addition, the user can add tutorials to bookmarks to study them later. This is useful for students and lawyers with busy schedules.

Unique content

The user has access not only to text training materials but also to links to legislation and real cases as examples. Several levels of content nesting ensure easy navigation.

Copy / Highlight / Note

While reading the text, the user can highlight a certain fragment and copy it or mark it with a different color. They can also add notes related to this fragment. Highlights and Notes are available for viewing on a separate page.

Quiz

One of the most valuable features of this app is the Quiz. After reading the tutorials, users can test their knowledge by answering questions about the module. The administrator creates the answers and questions based on the cases.

Create and configure Decks

Users can create Decks and change the style according to the theme (Title, Color, Icon) in the app. Within each Deck, you can add Cards and manage them as you see fit, such as selecting multiple Cards to remove or move to another Deck.

Create and edit Cards

There are two types of Cards: standard and custom. In the second case, you can create your own back and front content and customize the color. The designed card is added to the Deck and can be used during training (checked/flagged).

Admin panel

The app allows you to manage content flexibly. Content added to the admin panel is delivered to the iOS device, which increases the speed of updates. You can also add additional types of law, translate to different languages, and customize questions/answers in Quizzes.