Playpen Labs

We build and launch software products using design thinking and agile development. Our goal is to scale projects into scalable businesses. In addition, we work with clients to do onboarding, help desk consulting, web development, user research and testing.

Rockwood - Architecting Software Solutions For Nonprofits
Project Overview

Rockwood Leadership Institute is a nonprofit based in Oakland, Ca. They specialize in leadership training for philanthropic and social impact leaders. We were first approached by Rockwood to assist with troubleshooting problems experienced when sending emails from their Rails application. Their original Rails application was developed in 2008 and had become a mix of now unsupported and depreciated libraries. We worked with Rockwood to uncover some of the underlying problems with their Rails application beyond email issues. We also worked with Rockwood to understand and determine the tradeoffs of upgrading their current application versus rearchitecting their software from scratch. Based on rapid advances in both the Rails framework and existing SaaS solutions, rearchitecting their software became the obvious solution.

Project Details

We worked with Rockwood to understand their workflows and daily operations. The final solution was a Salesforce and web application. Many of the Rockwood workflows including training registration, payment, and event management were moved to Salesforce. Training participants of the Rockwood Leadership Institute completed evaluations through a custom Ruby of Rails application. Status of evaluations and access to results are sent from the web application to Salesforce, so that Rockwood staff are alerted when evaluations are completed.

Tools

  • Ruby on Rails Programming Language
  • Apex Salesforce Programming Language