System admin
The system admin can create and edit accounts as well as information about land plots for landowners.
Buyland
A marketplace where customers can find residential and commercial land plots available for sale
Idea
The founder of the project, asked SteelKiwi to develop a marketplace for advertising residential and commercial land plots.
Our task was to create a comfortable platform that would not only allow customers to find land available for purchase but also let them filter plots and find exactly what they’re looking for. The platform is aimed at turning land into a commodity that can be traded online.
To date, the platform comprises 46 companies offering land plots. These companies provide 48 land complexes and 5,428 plots available for buying.Analysis
Platforms like the one we developed for our customer add transparency to the world of land sales, making it easier and more comfortable to search for and purchase land.
Apart from residential construction, empty land plots can be used for developing temporary farms and gardens, harvesting solar and wind energy, and more. Our client's website lets users learn about land and the nearby area, helping them make informed choices based on their requirements.
User Roles
Super-administrator
The super-administrator has the same functionality on the platform as the admin, but the super-administrator can also monitor the admin’s work and manage all information on the website.
Land owner
Landowners can create profiles and add and edit information about their plots. Landowners can also view lists of customers who have looked through their ads and check all submitted applications.
Land buyer
Land buyers can create profiles, which are approved by the admin, search for land plots using filters, and see the contact information of landowners. They can contact landowners via phone or email.
Results
Duration:
August, 2017 - present
Team:
Backend - 2 Frontend - 1 UX - 1 UI - 1 QA - 1 DevOps - 1 PM - 1
Created UI and UX
The platform serves four user roles: land developers, customers, admins, and super admins. We defined the requirements for each user role and then used this information to create detailed interface wireframes.
We paid close attention to responsivity, making the platform comfortable to use not only on desktop devices but also on tablets and smartphones.
The result is a transparent and user-friendly platform that can be used to successfully sell and purchase land online.
Developed frontend
We leveraged a variety of tools and technologies to develop the website's frontend. Gulp.js manages development tasks. We used Sass, a CSS preprocessor, for convenience in building components.
The combination of Rollup.js and Babel is used for JavaScript ES6 processing. We built separate bundles of modules, using them as widgets on different pages. Vue.js, an open-source JavaScript framework, was used to create dynamic components and embeddable widgets. We also used Vue.js to customize the platform’s admin interface and optimize performance.
We used the promise-based Axios library to process HTTP requests.
Developed backend
The website is developed in Python with Django. We used MSG91 to implement SMS messaging. To provide a convenient filtering system, we used Django-filter. For geospatial location search, we used PostGIS.
Performed quality assurance testing
To make sure that each component of the final product works smoothly, we performed a number of testing activities throughout development.
This included creating checklists (a type of testing documentation), performing functional and non-functional testing, running regression testing for every major update, and doing cross-browser and cross-platform testing. We used Apache JMeter for load and stress testing to measure and improve system stability.
As functionality related to search and filtering is very important for the purposes of the platform, we also designed an Apache JMeter test suite with different conditions and search and filter combinations to make sure that the website works perfectly in every case.
Full integration with the Google Maps API
We used the Google Maps API to display and edit information about land advertised through SpaceBuy. In particular, we implemented:
- A geocoding service to turn addresses from the search field into coordinates so this data can be transferred to the server
- Directions from allotments to nearby locations, showing how far away allotments are and how long it takes to reach them
- Autocompletion of addresses in the search field
- Searcher tools to find locations nearby a given property
Implemented features
We’ve developed a detailed filtering system for users to find the exact land they’re looking for. Land buyers can set the desired price range, choose the upper and lower limits of square feet and select ranges for the frontage and road width. There are also options for specifying the property location (north, south, east, or west) and searching for corner properties.
Picturesque land images are attached.
Land plots can also be previewed on a map where the areas are marked as Sold, Booked, Available and Unavailable.
Land buyers can check the information about the company responsible for selling land plots in the About company tab.
Land developers can advertise and sell land through the platform. With access to the dashboard, land developers can manage land plots that they’re selling and view the list of customers who have previewed certain areas.
Links
Technology Stack
