At CyberMind Works, we pride ourselves on delivering innovative solutions that drive user engagement and satisfaction. One of our notable successes is the collaboration with Skill-Lync, a renowned ed-tech company, where we developed a real-time demo experience for students. This initiative significantly reduced the turnaround time for users, enhancing their overall experience and boosting conversion rates. Here's a detailed account of how we achieved this.
The Challenge
Skill-Lync wanted to offer prospective students a seamless and immediate demo experience of their courses. The goal was to connect students with demo engineers in real-time as soon as they filled out a form. This required a robust system that could handle real-time notifications, efficient matchmaking, and secure, concurrent access management.
Our Solution
To meet these requirements, we devised a comprehensive solution using the following technologies and methodologies:
Real-Time Notifications with Socket.io
We used Socket.io to manage real-time communications between students and demo engineers. As soon as a student filled out the form, a notification was sent to all available demo engineers. This immediate notification system ensured that demo engineers could respond promptly, reducing wait times for students.
Scaling with Redis
To handle the scalability of Socket.io across multiple servers, we integrated Redis. Redis acted as a message broker, ensuring that all servers in the network could communicate efficiently. This setup allowed us to manage a large number of simultaneous connections without compromising performance.
Intelligent Matching Algorithm
We developed a custom algorithm to match demo engineers with students. This algorithm considered various factors such as:
- Languages known
- Courses specialized in
- Expertise level of the demo engineers
Additionally, we implemented a custom priority logic that prioritized sending notifications to the best-performing engineers first. If no response was received within a few seconds, the notification would cascade to the next set of engineers. This approach ensured that students were always connected with the most qualified demo engineer available.
Secure Access with Postgres Locking
To prevent multiple demo engineers from accepting the same meeting request, we utilized Postgres' locking mechanism. This ensured that only one demo engineer could accept a particular demo session, maintaining the integrity and exclusivity of the connection.
Overcoming Operational Challenges
During the implementation, we encountered some operational issues. Some demo engineers were using auto-click software to accept all demo requests, leading to unfair distribution of demos. To combat this, we implemented a system that randomly changed the placement of the accept and reject buttons. This simple yet effective measure ensured a fair distribution of demo requests among engineers.
Conclusion
Implementing real-time demos revolutionized user engagement for Skill-Lync. Students could see a demo within just 60 seconds of filling out a form, drastically enhancing their experience and leading to higher conversion rates. Our solution set a new standard for efficiency and effectiveness in the ed-tech industry.
At CyberMind Works, we are committed to leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver exceptional user experiences, driving success for our clients.
About Boopesh Mahendran
Boopesh is one of the Co-Founders of CyberMind Works and the Head of Engineering. An alum of Madras Institute of Technology with a rich professional background, he has previously worked at Adobe and Amazon. His expertise drives the innovative solutions at CyberMind Works.