Updating Learn to Speak German for eLanguage
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Challenge
- eLanguage acquired the Learn to Speak product line from another company and wished to update the Learn to Speak German product to version 9.5. eLanguage had limited available development resources and a tight timeframe to complete the work. To meet a customer commitment, eLanguage needed a development partner to first assess the code, ensuring that it had all of the necessary pieces to update the software, then to develop a plan, code and deliver the updated product in six weeks time.
Solution
- eLanguage chose Orbital to complete the work. Orbital assessed the software, worked with eLanguage to source necessary components, and set to work to update the code. As per eLanguage’s specification, Orbital then built an installer, as well as improved the application’s performance and the UI.
Results
- Orbital effectively took the software, learned it and repackaged it for German, delivering three product variations to eLanguage on-time and on-budget. eLanguage met its customer commitment and introduced Learn to Speak German Deluxe version 9.5.
“Having worked with Orbital at other companies in the past, when eLanguage needed an experienced and professional software development partner to work with us to update our product, the only choice was Orbital. Orbital is uniquely capable of taking on a whole project and professionally delivering a quality product. With Orbital, its always a job well done.”
-Founder, eLanguage
eLanguage is the leading developer in language learning products, providing award-winning educational software that teaches users how to speak, read and write in English, French, Spanish and German. When eLanguage wished to update its Learn to Speak German product to version 9.5 to match its similar products for English, French and Spanish, it chose Orbital.
eLanguage had recently acquired the Learn to Speak software titles from another software company. Although there had been German releases of the application prior to eLanguage acquiring the software, the most recent version (version 9.5) only featured English, French and Spanish. eLanguage needed the updated German product in multiple configurations to meet a quickly approaching customer commitment.
Having recently acquired the software, eLanguage had not yet hired a full development team. Given that eLanguage had limited available development resources at the time and a tight timeframe to complete the work, it needed a development partner to first assess the code, ensuring that it had all of the necessary pieces to update the software, then to develop a plan, code and deliver the updated product in six weeks time. eLanguage would require the development partner to manage the project independently. In addition to updating the German release to the current product version, eLanguage also wished to improve the product’s User Interface (UI) and performance.
Orbital undertook the project without knowing if there would be any significant surprises in the development process. Having never worked with the software before, Orbital was provided with its proprietary code base and tasked to analyze and learn it from scratch.
Orbital encountered a number of challenges that needed to be overcome. One major challenge was there had been little to no transfer of knowledge about the code base. Because of the software’s ownership change, there had not been a continuing development team working on the code. Orbital had limited access to eLanguage resources, so the team was simply given the source code and tasked to make it work.
Orbital successfully updated the German product to version 9.5. Following eLanguage’s specification, Orbital also modified the product and its video handling, improving the user experience and ensuring optimal usability. During the engineering level quality assurance process, Orbital made additional efforts to ensure that the files were working properly and that performance objectives were achieved.
Orbital successfully delivered Learn to Speak German version 9.5, including an installer, in the specified product variations to eLanguage on-time and on-budget. eLanguage met its customer commitment and was able to quickly and efficiently add the updated German product to its list of award-winning, educational, language software titles.
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