DER Touristik: A digital travel companion in 7 months
Smart travel with My Apollo
An all-round worry-free app for tourists
“Let’s create an app that always connects people with the best days of the year”. This is what the European tour operator DER Touristik has achieved for its Apollo, Fischer and EXIM brands within a few months with “My Apollo”. The app, initially launched in Scandinavia, not only combines all the information about the trip, but also accompanies customers digitally before, during and after the trip: It can be used, for example, to discover hotels and sights, book excursions or the next trip.
Industry
- Tourism
Technologies
- Flutter
- iOS
- Android
- Azure Pipelines
Development time
- From Kickoff to Go Live in just 7 months
The teams behind the app
Cooperation between Apollo, Intuity and MaibornWolff
“The close cooperation between Intuity, MaibornWolff and our internal teams was the key to success,” says Matthias Lewin, Lead Product Owner Customer App for DerTouristik Group.
To develop the cross-platform app for iOS and Android, the MaibornWolff team worked closely with the product owner, the UX/UI design managers of our partner Intuity and several backend development teams. Thanks to the agile framework Scrum, the project teams were able to present the app to the public within only seven months.
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More InformationAction: MaibornWolff meets DERTouristik
Matthias Lewin is Lead Product Owner Customer App at DER Touristik Group and gives us an insight into the projekt
App development
Flutter as a cross-platform technology
Matthias Nefzger, Senior Lead IT Architect at MaibornWolff: “We decided to use the Flutter framework to develop a fast, stable and good-looking app for iOS and Android that the users liked. The cross-platform technology allowed us to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in a very short time.”
Matthias built an architecture with his team and created a build workflow that supports multiple app versions, languages and brands: “We created the app as a so-called whitelabelling solution, so that additional brands, languages and countries can be integrated gradually and easily.”
“Since we created a resilient usage concept and data model in the first step, we were able to develop at high speed right from the start. Frequent user testing ensured we were on the right track and made tuning more efficient. I never thought we would release the feature set in such a short time.”
Matthias Lewin, Lead Product Owner Customer App DerTouristik Group
Requirements engineering
User needs as the basis for the app
“How do we create the greatest added value for travellers and DER Touristik?” Intuity compiled the answers to this key question into a concept for the app. This determined our approach in the project, always with a focus on the goals of the users and the client.
Our Senior IT Consultant Sophia Schwab about the requirements engineering: “We had to combine the requirements of many stakeholders from different markets in one app and only little time until the release. That’s why prioritisation with a view to the needs of the users is the basis for a successful app. Our user surveys show: We were up to the challenge.”
User interface design
Simplicity and clarity as design principles
Our partner Intuity was not only responsible for user experience and user interface design, but also managed the overall project. Bernhard Staiber, Unit Lead Digital Experiences at Intuity, on the basic principles that guided them in the design of the app: “Our app should inform and care for travellers – like a concierge in a hotel. Simplicity and clarity are essential prerequisites for this. In addition, we want to create surprising, sensual moments again and again and inspire people. After all, it’s about the most beautiful time of the year!”
