Lerpal

Hearst Digital Magazines has a global audience of 400 million unique visitors, with 25 brands in the U.S., and close to 200 websites around the world. Some of the well-known magazine titles under Hearst Magazines include Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Elle, Good Housekeeping, and Harper's Bazaar.

Challenges

• Balancing scale with quality performance, a critical need for the client, where updates have far-reaching impacts on a vast customer base. 

• Managing the limitations of the existing content management system while developing a new CMS that fully addresses all content managers’ needs. 

• Integrating new services and technologies into a complex and extensive internal ecosystem. 

• Revamping the search experience on the websites for better user engagement, improving navigation and optimizing page load times for a more satisfying user experience.

Solutions

• In partnership with Hearst, we have further developed and sustained a scalable, high-performance architecture. This robust framework is designed to effectively manage the expansive needs of Hearst’s global audience.

• Our collaborative efforts in building the new CMS have been successfully tailored  to align with the creative vision of Hearst’s content teams.  

• With a holistic approach and meticulous attention to detail, we have effectively incorporated new services and technologies into the client’s vast tech ecosystem, ensuring enhanced operational efficiency.

• Through continuous extensive A/B testing we have been providing valuable insights into user behaviors. This has enabled Hearst to better tailor their content and make adjustments to user interfaces accordingly. As a result, user session times have notably increased, boosting ad revenue across Hearst websites. 

Tech Stack

React, Python, Flask, Django, Falcon, Backbone, Javascript, AWS, Data Science, Load Balancer, Machine Learning, Optimizely.

Results

The seamless integration of Lerpal’s experts into Hearst’s internal structure has accelerated team productivity and enhanced their adaptability, effectively meeting the dynamic demands of the market.
Marking 3 years and still advancing, Lerpal continues to work with major Hearst domains, including Cosmopolitan, Elle, Car and Driver, Men's Health, Vogue, and more, contributing to their digital growth and global impact.

The Hill is a top political website covering the work of the US Congress. Besides delivering political news and analysis, it employs interactive features to foster informed discussions and boost political awareness. 

Challenge 

The Hill needed to handle a growing number of visitors with diversified needs. Another challenge they faced at the time was scaling processes to deliver a vast array of categorized political news. With numerous constraints the existing content management system implied, the desired and deserved business growth was significantly hindered. 

Solution

Lerpal analyzed the root causes of content management technology constraints. Over the course of our 15-year-long collaboration we continuously improved the system architecture and conducted several reinvention rounds, switching from Java and static HTML to Joomla and later to Drupal, eventually migrating to cloud hosting on Amazon Web Services. 

Tech Stack 

Nginx, PHP (Drupal), MySQL, Load Balancer, Memcache, AWS. 

Results

• With a tremendous increase in audience engagement and retention, the amount of daily active users has increased by 15 000 times: from 3 000 to 50 000 000. 

• A user-friendly platform allowing users to access and navigate news and analytics with ease.

• An exclusive video content library enriching the news experience through multimedia political coverage.

• A robust content management system empowering content managers and creators to get the most out of their vision and deliver high-quality media products.

A leading marketing agency under Hearst Group, iCrossing crafts experiences that influence consumers to act. They handle brand transformation, strategy, and redesign, including websites and other digital assets.

Challenges

• Managing multiple content management systems

• Meeting specific requirements of diverse clients

• Resource scaling to ensure timely project execution.

Solutions

• Recognising the dynamic nature of the client’s domain, we utilized Agile principles and assembled a dedicated team of experts, ensuring timely delivery for each project. 

• We’ve used Drupal and Contentful to help develop content management systems, Next.js and React JavaScript Library for great user experiences across various platforms. The new user interfaces include helpful features such as content preferences, personalization, language choices, and notification settings.

• Our team helped redesign and support websites for well-known brands such as Wella, L’Oreal and La Roche Posay, developing solutions that minimize reliance on developers for everyday website management. 

• We’ve empowered data-driven decision-making with real-time analytics integration to track user engagement, content performance, and platform usage.

• Our experts have also performed integrations with various social media platforms for community engagement and content sharing at ease.

Tech stack 

Drupal, Contentful, React, Next.js, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure.

Results

Integrating Agile principles into our workflow has allowed us to adapt to shifting needs and deliver projects on time. This ensured iCrossing could respond quickly to client requests and market dynamics. 

With a user-friendly tech stack content creators can now publish, manage, and personalize content without relying heavily on developers.

Leveraging our real-time analytics to better understand user behavior, creators can craft more engaging experiences and optimize their websites for better results.

Credibly is a well-established FinTech company that has provided over $2 billion in financing to more than 30,000 small businesses across the US since 2010. 

Challenges

• Integrating various financial operations related to loan management.

• Creating a robust and accurate system for creditworthiness evaluation(scoring).

• Streamlining an efficient documentation flow process complying with legal constraints.

• Securing data privacy and transaction integrity.

• Maintaining readability and scalability.

• Continuously innovating the application to meet evolving market demands.

• Providing technical support throughout the project lifecycle. 

Solutions

• Lerpal participated in creating and supporting a solution that unifies the documentation and management process for a diversified range of fintech products. These include a working capital loan, a merchant cash advance, a business line of credit, an equipment loan, a long-term business loan, and small business financing. There are only 3 steps users need to accomplish. This has given Credibly a competitive advantage over alternatives such as bank loans, credit cards, and SBA loans. Site users can submit their data and documents for immediate feedback and address their queries to an automated chatbot. The chatbot helps them navigate through the sitemap, prequalify online, and even take advantage of referral and funding partnership opportunities. 

• Lerpal also conducted a website redesign, focusing on high user-centricity and optimizing usability to keep up with the ever-growing market standards. 

• We have supported Credibly in digitizing their credit scoring assessment system while increasing the security of both companies and customers’ data. 

• Facilitating regular releases of new features, updates and redesigns, Lerpal augments Credibly’s teams in supporting the project throughout the entire product lifecycle. 

Tech Stack

PHP, Python, MySQL, React.

Results

We supported Credibly in developing an application that revolutionizes the loan process for small and medium-size businesses. It automates every step of the user journey, from application to repayment. Thanks to that, users can pre-qualify in minutes and raise funding from $5K to $400K in less than 24 hours.

Just a Bite Better is an AI-driven platform aimed at improving people’s lives through rethinking nutrition. The product employs natural language processing to transform text messages about users’ eating and drinking habits into profound calculations and subsequently personalized nutrition plans based on mathematical models.

Challenge 

The client approached us with a vision of a cross-platform tool designed to enhance nutrition awareness and empower individuals with control over their dietary choices. They wanted to develop an application that would seamlessly integrate AI-driven insights and customer-friendly features. Working closely with the founder and CEO of Just a Bite Better, we turned that vision into reality, achieving both technical and product development goals. 

Solutions

• Throughout our 3-year collaboration, we have maintained an optimal balance between systematizing habit formation and keeping it satisfying and engaging for its users. Implementing insights from user testing, we have conducted a few rounds of redesign to find a product-market fit and satisfy the target audience. 

• With the adoption of Microsoft’s LUIS and Azure Bot, we have seamlessly delivered complex backend processes, bringing to life features envisioned by the client and loved by end users. 

• Lerpal has streamlined the platform’s operations, handling thousands of messages per user and building nutrition plans and well-being forecasts based on the most recent and relevant insights.  

Tech Stack 

Vue.js, JavaScript Animation, Symfony.

Results 

Within the first six months following its launch, Just a Bite Better gained an impressive 4.9-star average rating across app stores. This attests to its effectiveness and positive impact on users' lives. Moreover, customers have reported an average 30% improvement in overall well-being since adopting the application.

Evolution Nutrition is a comprehensive business portal empowering individual trainers and fitness businesses to seamlessly connect with their clientele and jointly address their health, dietary, and nutritional aspirations. 

Challenges

When the client approached our team, they were experiencing the following issues:

• Struggling to keep sprints consistent and set clear sprint goals, particularly in enhancing value-added services and features. 

• Uncertainty in achieving project goals due to concerns about quality of work.

Solutions 

• Lerpal introduced a collaborative process of requirements elicitation and documentation,  ensuring alignment and shared understanding between the client and the delivery team.
• By establishing structured workflows and meticulous quality standards, we provided a stable working environment that reduced risk and uncertainty, allowing the client to focus on core business activities while we handled the development process.
• Through interactive redesigns, we significantly streamlined user experience, removing friction points and enhancing intuitiveness at every step of the customer journey. 
• We integrated Trainerize into the platform, helping trainers to effortlessly transfer client data to Evolution Nutrition and generate personalized plans for existing Trainerize users. Trainers can now save tens of hours each week and focus on what matters most - their clients. 

Tech Stack

Angular.js, PHP-Symfony.

Results

Lerpal has addressed all development and support needs, enhancing the work environment of Evolution Nutrition and transforming its development process.

Improvements in user experience led to a direct positive impact on lifetime value (LTV) and revenue. 

With more than 1,000 gym and trainer partnerships now, the portal plays a pivotal role in redefining wellness and nutrition practices worldwide.

Aisle Planner is a versatile tool that includes: 

• Lead Management, Sales Tools, and Payment Processing
• Event Planning and Production
• Business Process Management

Challenges

• Developing a web app acting as a marketplace for wedding services providers and at the same time featuring necessary functionalities for handling all related processes.

• Maintaining legacy Angular features while integrating modern React & Python for a unified experience. 

• Upgrading the existing content management system.

Solutions

• Lerpal experts have guided the product owner and in-house team through workflow optimization and project management challenges. We took a crucial part in the project launch, crafting a roadmap for each developer’s work.
• We have helped create an onsite blog using Drupal, empowering content professionals to be creative, productive, and efficient.  
• Our team has significantly improved the CRM used by Aisle Planner, replacing Angular with React.
• We have automated all processes related to wedding organization, starting with invitations and up to table seat setup with guests’ placement.
• Lerpal has created and supported extra features, including Notes Editor and Calendar.
• We have performed integrations with third-party applications: PostMark for communication, Stripe for payments, and Nylas for mail and calendars. 

Tech Stack 

React, Angular, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, Python, Django.

Results

Thanks to the collaboration with Lerpal, Aisle Planner obtained a highly converting blog as a new channel to communicate their value proposition and position themselves as industry experts. 

Our team empowered the wedding marketplace to migrate to a modern and more powerful CRM, which has streamlined company operations with benefits for both B2B and B2C clients.