Safar

Cross-platform education app
powered by CMS

the idea

THE BRIEF

Safar Publications offers a variety of courses and curricula to help learners understand more about their Quranic reading, Islamic knowledge, spiritual development and the Arabic language. They offer their customers physical books that they can use to learn and study. However, they wanted to transition into the digital age and provide a digital learning experience that users can utilise and subscribe to. This is a great way to give users instant access to their content, but also provide another revenue stream for Safar Publications.

what needed to be solved

THE PROBLEM

Safar Publication had created and curated a collection of books that were very successful in helping readers understand and learn more about the Quran. These were collected into various volumes and formed a curriculum that people could follow. Safar was working on breaking down the curriculum into a collection of lessons, levels and tasks. They wanted to offer these digitally to users within a mobile application, so users could learn at their own pace, but also get an enhanced experience that a mobile application could offer. Simple things like being able to hear the lesson in both Arabic and English were a great way of providing a better experience.

Safar needed a developer who could provide the mobile application but also be able to provide an Admin CMS that allowed Safar to upload their content, tailor it and gain insight into what was working and what wasn't. That developer also needed to understand that the content needed to be presented to the user in English and in Arabic, meaning the application UI would have to support right-to-left and left-to-right reading and writing.

the clever bit!

THE SOLUTION

The Distance reviewed the requirements Safar had and looked to build a React Native application, so it would work on iOS and Android, and an Admin CMS using React Admin. The application had to include features that incentivised the users to continue using the application. With it being a mobile application, rather than a book, some tools and features could be included to enhance the experince.

Users would complete a lesson and go through a curriculum within the app; however, users could also view the Dua of the Day. A nice way to give user a taste of something different outside of their standard lessons. The Dua of the Day and the lessons are all content that was created in the CMS and streamed to the application.

It was also identified that the content should be accessible offline and allow users to continue their lessons without an internet connection. When the user opens the application, they are presented with a download screen that updates the user on the progress of their downloaded content. This allows them to play audio files and view lessons completely offline.

Safar also wanted to look a how they could generate another revenue stream via the mobile application. Using the stores in app purchases, it was decided that a one-off payment to 'go premium' would be the best way to solve this. The application was free and provided users with a taster of the lessons and functionality within it; however, to get the full lessons and full access, the user would need to subscribe to a premium service to unlock all features.

measuring success

THE RESULTS

The application was released to the stores and is available on Android and iOS. Safar had access to the CMS and was able to upload all of their content and separate it by lessons, categories, etc. This gave them the flexibility to tailor the content where relevant.

A few changes were made to the application post-launch to enhance the experience even further and listen to the user feedback on what they wanted or didn't want. Notifications were utilised to both encourage users to continue their lessons and promote premium content, but also allow Safar to provide general updates.

Overall, Safar was successful and allows Safar Publications to continue growing it and adding new content as and when they require. This meant the life span of Safar was extended due to the flexibility the CMS and application offered.

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