The Challenge

VHL wanted a solution which would seamlessly integrate into their existing product, both visually and from a workflow standpoint. The user’s presence needed to be displayed on every page to allow users in the same class to link up and collaborate. While the video and chat controls needed to match their look and feel.

The Solution

Cantina developed a suite of plug and play components which could be added to any part of VHL’s application. Other than the video window, the system was designed to be completely “headless”, giving VHL full control of the presentation. This allowed the system to be used in a variety of ways across the Maestro product.

The components could be mixed and matched to provide simple presence alerts all the way to a full text and multimedia chat experience. And the clean Javascript API Cantina developed hid the complexity of the system, allowing VHL’s developers to concentrate on the user experience, rather than the plumbing.

STRATEGY & UX

Cantina wanted to go 100% HTML5, but supporting the widest audience without plugin downloads required using Flash. Cantina devised a way to provide full access to the Flash component via a JavaScript API, which could be upgraded to use HTML5 once the video support matured.

Results

Cantina’s technology-agnostic approach worked well, as the system required proficiency in a wide range of platforms and languages. Cantina was able to apply their experience in system architecture, video, and user experience to provide a product worked seamlessly with their existing technology platform.