About our work
Web application, website or web app
Today web applications are natural tools that we as users are used to using every day. However, few know whether it is an application or a web page - and that hardly matters in practice
A web application can be described as "a program on the web" and examples of such are Facebook and Twitter. Unlike a program on your computer, the web application does not save any files locally on your computer/tablet/phone.
Before a web application project it is good not only to look at the design and development work itself but also to weigh in the changes to the product's or service's setup and identity that come with digitization. This can mean that the product contributes to a shift in the brand, and it is important to take advantage of the new opportunities that arise.
Some companies create entirely new services that culminate in a web application while others may have a physical product or service that simply needs to be digitized. What we at Limetta find exciting about these types of projects is that:
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Figure out how the client's business goals should be achieved to deliver impact.
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Create as intuitive and attractive an experience as possible for the user - so that they like it and continue to use the product.
- Technically develop a fast and secure platform that is easy to expand in the future.
Web app or website
A web application is rarely alone in a company's overall digital presence. There is almost always a website, other web-based systems and perhaps other web applications within the organization. So what role does a web application play in relation to a website and how can they complement each other?
Looking at typical characteristics of a web application versus a website, you can see significant differences:
Web app
- Built to solve a specific task or provide a specific service or product.
- Strong focus on functionality.
- A clear target audience, often at the individual level with logged-in accounts, individual data, etc.
- A greater degree of functionality specifically developed for the organization.
- A highly specialized flow fine-tuned to perfectly fit the application's use case.
- A more user-driven, application-like interface. It feels a bit more like working in a program than browsing web pages.
Website
- Built to accommodate many different types of information or functionality.
- Strong focus on content.
- Many parallel (broader) target groups. There may be personalization at the individual level but typically the visitor does not log in.
- A higher degree of built-in functionality that already exists in the solution, e.g. features in a CMS.
- Many parallel flows to suit different visitors' needs.
- A more content-driven interface whose primary purpose is to guide the user to the right information through clear structure, thoughtful navigation and good organization of the content.
Fast, attractive and works everywhere
From a purely technical perspective there is a set of tools that serves as the foundation in most web application projects we carry out. The selection is made based on the user experience we want users to have when they run the web application. Today users expect web applications that are not only well thought-out and consistently designed, they should also be attractively designed, fast, easy to work with and function on all types of devices (from mobile to desktop).
The technical toolbox for a typical web application project can look like this:
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HTML and CSS for all views
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React as the application framework on the client side
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JSON as the data format for communication between server and client
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An API from which the application reads and writes data
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Data storage on the server side. This can be a SQL database or a NoSQL database depending on the needs.
Each web application project then usually has its own project-specific solutions. These can include integrations with other systems, APIs from external parties, real-time communication or very specific interface solutions
Getting started with a web app
It's common in organizations for people to talk about how it would be more convenient if certain products or services could be digital instead of physical or manual. The willingness is often there, but often it remains just talk. The hard part is usually knowing where to start. That's where Limetta can act as a catalyst. For example, we can carry out a feasibility study where we look at an existing service or product and draw up a plan for how it could be digitized. It may also be that there isn't an existing service to draw on. All that exists is an idea for something entirely new that you'd like to build. What then follows are various activities focused on exploration and innovation to answer the question: how should we best build this entirely new service?
Web apps we've built
Limetta has both helped transition services and products from physical to digital and developed entirely new digital services and products. On the following pages we show some of the web applications we've built. Feel free to contact us if you find it exciting. Use our brief template if you'd like to prepare beforehand.
