Built from the ground up in just 50 days, TrafficBroker worked with consultants from ThoughtWorks to build one of the UK’s first applications of its kind using Ruby on Rails.
The strategic projects group within TrafficBroker spotted a gap in the market for a comparison web site to facilitate navigation of the vast array of mobile phones and price plans available online to UK consumers.
ThoughtWorks was brought in to support the company in building a user-centric foundation site (that could collate all of that data) with a stable platform for further development in the future.
We chose to work with ThoughtWorks not only because they had the relevant skills but also the flexible approach required for such a project, said Matt Wheeler, concept designer and project manager of www.omio.com. ThoughtWorks integrated quickly with our in-house team, bringing in a multidisciplinary team with relevant skills at each stage of the project. Crucially, we needed to work with a team that had experience with Ruby on Rails, and who we trusted could actually deliver in the required timescales.
Using an AJAX interface, users can filter the packages down to a shortlist that best matches their needs. The site runs on Linux and is hosted by EngineYard, a Rails-only hosting provider. CSV downloaded feeds are pushed into a mySQL database to drive the information to the user. Developed in Ruby on Rails, ThoughtWorks’ CruiseControl integration and deployment tool was used for continuous integration, while the Selenium web applications test tool was used for automated user interface tests through the browser.
