The document discusses the development of the Elle Décor Lookbook app, which allows users to browse interior design images from Elle Décor's archives on their iPad. The app was built using iOS native capabilities and integrated with Drupal for content management. Key features included responsive image galleries, ability to create and share design files, and articles from Elle Décor. Initial performance issues were addressed through code optimization and caching.

1. Integrating Drupal and
Native Applications:
The Story of the Elle
Décor Lookbook App
James Heise
Senior Director, Business Jim MacInnes
Development Technology Manager
July 2012 July 2012

2. Agenda
• Appnovation Overview
• What was the project?
• What Technologies were used
• Project Architecture
• Cool Features of the App
• Demo of the Application
• Managing Content with Drupal 7
• Solving Performance Issues
• Questions

3. Appnovation is
one of the World’s
leading Open
Source Solution
Providers.

4. Who we are
We Deliver Open Source Solutions
• Founded in 2007 by Arnold Leung, CEO as a Drupal development
shop
• Privately held with ~55 employees in Vancouver, BC, Atlanta, GA
and London, UK
• Broad base of customers across Canada, United States and the UK
• Focused on delivering Consulting Services and Application
Development
• Hand selected, highly skilled, and 100% on-shore delivery team
• Recognized as a leading edge Open Source Solution Provider
• Extremely competitive billing rates

5. What we do
Appnovation provides unparalleled expertise in creating
Consumer Facing and B2B Websites
Mobile Web and Integrated Apps
Cross Platform HTML5 Solutions
Enterprise Document Management
eLearning Platforms
Corporate Intranets

6. What we use
We specialize in the use of leading open-source
technologies

7. Who we work with
Appnovation is the only company in the world that is an
Acquia Enterprise Select Partner and a Alfresco
Platinum Partner. We are also the lead supporter, and
top provider of Sproutcore HTML5 development
services worldwide.
We work with media and publishing, consumer brands,
government organizations, technology companies,
advertising agencies, and non-profits.

8. Some of our
Clients

9. Development
Process
Traditional Waterfall Agile Methodology
Discovery Iterative Development
Technical Planning Velocity Tracking
Information Architecture Product Owners
Design Scrum Masters
Theming Daily Scrums
Backend Development Short Sprints
Quality Assurance Sprint Demos
Documentation and Training Test Driven Development
Maintenance and Support Quality Assurance

10. What Was the
Project?

12. Project
• Appnovation and Acquia’s customer Elle Décor had
decided they wanted to develop and iPad app for
their extremely popular resource the “Elle Décor
Lookbook”
• The Lookbook allows users to browse hundreds of
images from their archives organized by room and
style
• Users are also able to save their images to share
easily with other friends and colleagues even if they
don’t have the application
• Users also can also access editor curated
Lookbooks and a selection of best advice from
ElleDecor.com

13. What
Technologies
Were Used

14. Technologies
• When the project was first discussed we looked at
building a multiplatform app using HTML5
technologies and wrapping to android and iOS
• It was decided to focus on the iPad market
exclusively due to the iPad tablet market share and
existing relationships with Apple
• We decided to use an iOS and Drupal integration
that allowed Elle Décor to take advantage of iOS
native capabilities and performance as well as
taking advantage of the content management
capabilities of Drupal

15. Technologies
• This type of integration would allow for several key
Features:
-Elle Décor would be able to manage content in the
application without having to resubmit the app to the
app store
-We also used to Drupal to allow for dynamic web
sharing of Lookbooks while not requiring any type of
user logins
-We decided to engage Acquia to provide the hosting
and support platform for the Drupal piece of the
application.

16. Project
Architecture

17. Architecture
• Application is a pure iOS app built in ObjectiveC
• It communicates with Drupal using JSON REST
interface
• JSON REST API was provided by a custom
module
• Assets can be edited/managed on Drupal using
the Drupal Web admin UI
• For Elle Decor, no authentication was required
for end users (simplifies the custom REST API)

19. Cool features of
the App

20. Cool Features
• Extremely responsive photo galleries
• Ability to Create and share your own design files
(Lookbooks) with others that might not even have
the app
• Sponsored Lookbooks with hotspots on the images
to learn more at the sponsor’s website about the
product in the image
• Ability to add notes and information to images
saved in my design files
• Great selection of articles from Elle Décor with
some sponsored content

21. Demo time

22. Managing Content
with Drupal 7

23. Drupal as a
JSON Server
• There are several ways that you can use Drupal
as a JSON Server
• Using the Views Module
• Using the Services Module
• Developing a Custom Module

25. Why Drupal
• Very Flexible in providing a JSON Rest
Interface
• REST interface can be linked to Drupal’s
existing Node System
• Provides a great out of the box backend admin
tool for content management
• Provides a web based interface for legacy
browsers

27. Solving
Performance
Issues

28. Performance
• Initially performance was an issue with the
Application
• Solved issues through code re-organization
(reduced the amount of database lookups)
• Improved Speed using a Varnish Caching Server
• Deployed the Drupal instance on the Acquia cloud
• Appnovation also Engaged Acquia PS for a full
performance review of the App
• Apple Approval went very smoothly and the app
now resides in the app store with a 4+ rating and
great reviews

29. Questions?
James Heise Iain MacNeil
Senior Director, Business Vice President of Sales
Development imacneil@appnovation.com
james@appnovation.com +1.778.862.5162
+1.604.833.1486

30. James Heise Iain MacNeil
Senior Director, Business Vice President of Sales
Development
james@appnovation.com imacneil@appnovation.co
+1.604.833.1486 m
+1.778.862.5162