Gridtopia is a startup company from Illinois with an intriguing business plan. Gridtopia is a social comparison network that allows users to easily search and view data online in a personalized format. Gridtopia is a site where people enter information to make the Internet easier to use. It can sort everything from a comparison of the latest refrigerators to a chart of American presidents. Many decision-makers use the data for broad comparisons. Some sorting examples are: packing lists, historical data, top 100 songs, used car comparisons, etc.
Gridtopia was looking for a software development company with experience in Web applications and databases. As Gridtopia was initiating its vision, the company did not want to hire internal tech resources. They wanted to see if the concept was possible and if there were developers who could create this cost-effective prototype as an alternative to investing money in internal IT. Pending the prototype's success, Gridtopia also needed a software development company that would be available to continue to support the project.
As expected, Amadeus Consulting was up to the challenge. Gridtopia asked Amadeus Consulting to take its vision and ideas from paper to reality. Gridtopia required a Web application that resembled an Excel document within an Internet browser. The application needed to allow users access to other online comparisons and offer the ability to compare products and services in a format that would easily contrast, translate and simplify. The project was unique and exciting for the Amadeus Consulting team as it provided opportunities for developing creative solutions. One requirement of the system - high interactivity - was particularly difficult because most browsers do not typically allow this type of interaction. Additionally, it was essential for a user interface to handle a grid-like functionality. Amadeus Consulting also had to overcome varying browser (Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc) challenges. The development team was determined to keep the user experience consistent despite the Internet user's preferred browser. The architects and developers also wanted the user to experience the system in 'real time'. Although this can be fairly complex, Amadeus Consulting overcame odds to create a high-quality Web application that could function like a simple Excel program.
Amadeus Consulting approached this assignment with immense enthusiasm. Gridtopia's system required strong reliability and a high level of performance. The final Web application offered Gridtopia two main benefits: a public facing system allowing users to search and use the comparative system, as well as the authoring side that allows users to creatively construct the grids. The system provided Gridtopia's 'real time' preferences, meaning once data is added to the online system it is not necessary to start over at each refresh.
Amadeus Consulting also offered Gridtopia endless user features in the Web application: undo, cut, paste, copy, insert cell, open link, permalinks (links that don't go away), print, e-mail, and share capabilities. The application also included a ranking and administrative system. This showed the most popular information entered based on a variety of variables and enabled the administrator to approve, edit and reject users and their content. Overall, expectations were exceeded as Amadeus Consulting enabled Gridtopia's vision to unfold in a complex but user-friendly comparative social network.