This project involved a multi-year partnership focused on taking control, stabilizing and significantly improving the Estaciones ANCAP mobile application, a fundamental tool for fuel payment and access to services throughout Uruguay. Starting in 2021, the main objective of the project was to transform the app into a robust, high-quality and feature-rich platform.

The challenge

Prior to 2021, the Estaciones ANCAP app faced significant operational hurdles that hampered its effectiveness and user satisfaction. The client's primary challenges revolved around:

• Regaining control and stability: The immediate challenge was to assume full control over the application's development and bring it to a stable state. This indicated existing issues with reliability, potentially frequent crashes, or unpredictable behavior that eroded user trust.
• Addressing technical debt and bugs: The imperative to "stabilize" the app and "fix bugs" pointed to a codebase that had accumulated significant technical debt, leading to numerous defects that degraded the user experience.
• Establishing a quality framework: Beyond immediate fixes, the client aimed to evolve the app within a robust "Quality framework." This underscored a desire for a more structured, predictable, and high-standard development process to ensure long-term stability, performance, and security.
• Seamless integration with loyalty program: A key challenge was to deeply integrate the app with the ANCAPuntos loyalty program, ensuring users could effortlessly manage their points, access benefits, and make direct exchanges, transforming the digital experience of this established program.
• Enabling future evolution: The client's vision included adding new features, which necessitated a stable and well-structured foundation that the existing app might not have provided.

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The solution

The solution involved a strategic, multi-faceted approach to overhaul the Estaciones ANCAP app, directly addressing the client's objectives of control, stabilization, and evolution. Key aspects of the work included:

• Comprehensive bug fixing and stabilization: A concerted effort was made to identify and resolve existing bugs, bringing crucial stability to the application. This foundational work ensured a reliable experience for users interacting with core features like fuel payment and station location.
• Technological updates: Implementation of significant technological updates modernized the app's underlying infrastructure. This not only improved overall performance but also provided a solid base for future enhancements and ensured compatibility with evolving mobile ecosystems.
• Strengthening security: A major focus was placed on enhancing the app's security posture. This was critical for a financial services application that handles user payments and personal data, ensuring compliance with security best practices and protecting user information.
• Deep integration with ANCAPuntos loyalty program: The app was meticulously integrated with the ANCAPuntos loyalty program, allowing users to seamlessly check their ANCAPuntos balance, access card details, and perform direct exchanges with ANCAPuntos directly from their mobile device. This significantly enhanced the digital experience of the loyalty program.
• Development of new features: Beyond stabilization, the project actively incorporated new functionalities. This allowed users to access an expanded range of services directly from their phones, such as ordering Supergás ANCAP and discovering promotions, fulfilling the client's goal of evolving the app.
• Establishment of a quality-driven process: The successful stabilization, bug fixing, and continuous evolution implicitly highlight the implementation of rigorous development, testing, and deployment practices that instilled control and ensured high standards for all subsequent work.