For the Outlier Conference, I developed a web application to display the localized schedule for the event. In the past with the Outlier Conf App we had a native mobile application, but this year we wanted to try something different. The application is a full-stack NextJS application with a Postgres database, and is embedded directly into the Outlier Conference website using an iFrame.
Project Overview
The Outlier Conference app is a way for attendees to view the schedule for the conference in their local timezone. With attendees from all over the world, it was important to have a way for them to see the schedule in their local time, and in the past we had issues with attendees missing sessions because they were in a different timezone.
Another important feature of the application is the Unconf sessions. These are sessions that are submitted by the attendees and are not part of the official schedule. Creating a way for attendees to submit and view these sessions was important for the conference, and required the data to be updated in real-time.
Challenges and Insights
Working from the designs build for the first version of the Outlier Conference App it was fairly easy to build the application. Creating specific pages for the embedded layout allowed for the application to have separate dashboards for adding and monitoring the schedule.
With the authentication system in place, the application was able to be manage the Unconf sessions submitted by the attendees. The unconf dashboard could then be used to approve or reject the sessions, making them visible on the schedule.
Key Learnings
Rebuilding the Outlier Conference App as a web application provided valuable insights:
- The importance of having a localized schedule for a global event
- The benefits of using a micro-frontend architecture to allow for independent development and deployment of each section of the application
- The importance of real-time data updates for user-generated content