Dualboot Partners

Driving Sustainability Through App-Led Operational Efficiency

The 13 dealers in the United States offering Continental’s retreading services rely on a proprietary application to track every step in the process. Yet, when the legacy platform proved cumbersome, Continental turned to Dualboot Partners to provide the necessary flexibility in a new app with the same fresh finish as its end product tires.

The opportunity

With retreaded tires helping fleets reduce costs and ensure higher mileage, building up the retread business is a key part of Continental Tire’s growth strategy in the U.S. market. To make its network of ContiLifeCycle tire locations more efficient, Continental needed to revamp its application for each of its network partners.

Continental wanted to improve the design and user experience of its software. Recognizing that some tires need to go to different stations in the multi-step process (but perhaps not all of them), the company wanted to improve the flow between stations. Doing away with the login process and simplifying the user interface in other ways would help.

Additionally, Continental wanted the new software to automate order entry and reporting functions. Enhancing these functions required adjustments to the database model so that information could be accessed without custom queries.

Dualboot’s team was happy to take the driver’s seat in rebuilding the existing application on a new platform with further enhancements, additional security, and a refreshed look.

The solution

The ContiLifeCycle app is accessed throughout the multi-stage process with the technician entering data into the computers at each station on the floor. Whether its buffing, repair, hot or cold building or curing, or inspection, each individual retreading station collects and reports data. Plus, each shop had its own specific processes and features from the old application that it relied upon in inventory management and workflow tracking.

Dualboot began its process with an analysis of the existing lifecycle tracking product and discussions with Continental’s stakeholders to identify priorities and opportunities for new functionality. The goal was to enhance reliability and future harden the application.

Along the way with any project, as development continues, Dualboot expects requests to pivot or expand feature offerings. In this case, when a new project manager joined on the client side, the priorities shifted in a big way.

The original plan was to build something to replace the old software, not replicate it. Then, under the new project manager, the goal shifted to replicating every feature of the old platform. It was a big pivot, but Dualboot’s development team built everything that Continental needed. Plus, they did it in time to bring all 13 shops online by the original end of 2023 deadline.

Since each retread location has its own computer systems and siloed data as well as unique processes, bringing each shop online was an added project challenge. Starting with an October visit to a retread shop in Indianapolis after the shift finished at 11 p.m. on launch night, Dualboot’s team ensured every shop had its own version of the system deployed by December 2022. Every two weeks another grouping of shops was launched with Dualboot spot-checking, getting feedback, and making updates along the way.

In many cases, the shops run three shifts a day, which means many opportunities for feedback but no great time to deploy. Plus, if something did go wrong, that could stop work for the entire shift. Quality assurance was critical and any changes had a very quick turnaround.

At the same time, since Continental is a multi-national enterprise client, Dualboot’s team might have to collaborate as well with the company’s DevOps team in Germany to troubleshoot. This meant international calls with screen sharing to try and sort out solutions in real time.

In the end, Continental’s platform has turned a corner.

The impact

Continental’s business tagline is “The future in motion.” That’s what Dualboot has enabled with the new offering. In addition to replicating and rebuilding a new system with greater security and a more user-friendly design, the developers also added some priority new features such as balancing scorecards to gauge tire performance, maintenance checklists and in-app user training.

Now the focus is on maintaining the platform and adding in some of the planned features that have not yet gone live. Meanwhile, Continental is discussing the retreading data platform with the company’s overall steering committee to make formal budget decisions about priorities for advancing the application even further as we roll into 2024.

Fast-Tracking Fan Engagement with Free-to-Play Innovation

As the leading daily fantasy sports operator in the United States, PrizePicks has established itself at the forefront of the industry. The company continues to evolve, pushing boundaries with innovative new game types that attract and engage a rapidly growing user base.

The opportunity

PrizePicks set out to expand beyond its initial service offerings by creating new products to drive growth and engagement. One of the first objectives was to design a free-to-play game that would attract new users and deepen daily engagement, all while maintaining the excitement and intensity of the paid game variant. The goal was to adapt quickly to the fast-moving Paid Fantasy Sports Market while staying responsive to user needs.

To meet this challenge, PrizePicks envisioned “Streaks,” a free-to-play game aimed at enhancing the overall user experience. However, despite having a strategic direction, the internal team faced bandwidth limitations as they were already managing other high-priority initiatives. Although there were plans to build a dedicated product team to oversee strategy, design, and development, the competitive pressure required swift action.

With these constraints, PrizePicks needed a development partner who could not only provide immediate support to accelerate development but also bring modern product discovery and delivery practices to the table. This partnership would ensure the success of “Streaks” and support PrizePicks’ ambitious scaling goals.

The solution

Dualboot Partners stepped in to strengthen PrizePicks’ product team, not just by providing technical expertise, but by becoming an integral part of their culture. We worked closely with their existing staff, aligning with PrizePicks’ playful mentality and culturally relevant brand ethos. Our team adapted to their communication preferences and agile practices, such as regular huddles, to ensure we were fully embedded in their processes. This allowed us to provide both front-end and back-end development support while fostering strong collaboration, making the integration of our team seamless as we worked together to bring the product from concept to market. By meeting PrizePicks where they were and embracing their internal culture, we helped the team not only deliver the solution but do so in a way that felt cohesive and painless for everyone involved.

“Dualboot really worked with us as one big team – their communication, creativity, and execution was top notch.”
Brian Huss
VP Innovation, PrizePicks

Initially we approached Design from a needs first standpoint, focusing on known pain points and the decision making of market leading Voice of Customer within the PrizePicks organization, however inevitably we hit impasses where no clear direction could be charted through uncertainty either due to differing perspectives, uncertainty in user preference, or changes to regulation. When this happened we pivoted towards iterative design sprints, ensuring that design, engineering and product teams were aligned on viability, desirability and feasibility, and that iterative feedback loops were in place. This modern, design-thinking approach replaced the traditional waterfall methods, allowing for quicker pivots and a more user-centric development process.

The “Streaks” game was developed as a free-to-play offering within the existing PrizePicks application. The game encourages users to build a streak by making daily picks, leading to the opportunity to place a free, paid entry for a chance to win real money. The game was designed to integrate seamlessly with PrizePicks’ existing user base while deploying to users in specific states via location-based feature flagging.

The impact

“Streaks” has proven to be a game-changer for PrizePicks. The launch of the game resulted in a 10% increase in new users, contributing to significant growth in their total user base.

Moreover, the introduction of “Streaks” opened up PrizePicks to 13 new states, previously underserved by their offerings. This expansion not only diversified and grew their user base, but also presents the opportunity for new revenue-driving opportunities within the free-to-play space and provides a strong foundation for net new game variants and promotions in the future.

The successful deployment of “Streaks” exemplifies how modern product management practices, combined with a focus on user needs and iterative development, can drive meaningful business outcomes. As PrizePicks continues to grow, ‘Streaks’ stands as a testament to the impact of strategic product development in enhancing user experience and expanding market reach.

“I was impressed by the exceptionally high quality of Dualboot’s work, particularly on the creative development and design front. I was also thrilled by how strongly and frequently the team communicated with us – it really was a one team mentality throughout”
Brian Huss
VP Innovation, PrizePicks