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Month: June 2022

How UI/UX Is Impacting Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is all about displaying the products and services in a manner that arouses interest with unforced actions. Truly remarked “People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.” And this is where the role of UI/UX comes into play. UI/UX is a sword in today’s digital world that helps in cutting the competitive edge to win the customer satisfaction battle. While you usually plan vigorous digital marketing strategies but attracting more people to your website remains a challenging part. So, what can be the best solution to excel in digital marketing in today’s shrewd market? Well, improving user experience and enhancing web design is the simple answer! In this article, you will get to know the importance of UI/UX and the way it impacts digital marketing tactics. UI and UX are two different sides of the same pole. Where UI focuses on user’s visual experience, it determines how a user interacts with an interface and increases user retention rate using a striking interplay of colors, fonts, designs, icons, images videos, etc, while UX identifies the user requirement and creates the best user experience by providing instant access to useful information with just a few clicks.

Why A Digital Marketer Should Consider UX?

  • Enhances Your SEO Performance The website ranking is directly affected by UX design because it is taken into account by the Google algorithm. Having a good UX directly simplifies your site navigation as a user can easily find useful information and does not leave your site soon. This strategy ensures a lower bounce rate which in turn sends a signal to Google that people are able to find useful information that ultimately increases your site visibility and page ranking.
  • Helps In Designing An Effective Landing Page The website conversion rate is directly related to the landing page. People are likely to search another website when they find your landing page complex i.e. trouble in finding useful information, multiple stage procedure to search the relevant information, etc. So, if you are willing to convert your visitors into your customers then create an effective and easy landing page that can help you to increase your conversion rate.
  • Makes Your Website Mobile Optimized Nowadays it is mandatory to have a mobile-friendly website because people spend most of their time on mobile. The latest stats suggests:
    • 61% of the people do not return to a website that is not mobile-friendly.
    • 70% of the website traffic is generated using mobile.
    • 80% of the top-ranked websites are mobile-friendly.

    So, if you want to increase your conversion rate and wish to see your website on the top SERPs then focus on creating a mobile-optimized website. It will not only help you in improving your brand recognition but also offer flexibility and cost-effectiveness.

  • Improves Customer Pleasure With Optimistic UX The digital age is all about improving customer journeys more than focusing on the product categories. It can’t be stressed enough, if you succeed in simplifying the user journey, you are guaranteed to see a positive spike of 20% in the user satisfaction level. Happy customers are the ones who provide repeated business and also share their excellent experiences with others. Therefore, skip avoiding the UX part as it is going to be your strongest tool in differentiating your business from other leading competitors in the market.
  • Better UX generates more conversions The best way to drive conversions is to scan the market view with the customer’s glasses and then plan your strategies according to what they are expecting. Try to offer all the useful information to customers so that they can easily move in the right direction. And this is possible with the best UX strategies. Users are likely to explore your website more when they find useful information on it. Also, don’t forget to place the call-to-action button in the main sections of website that naturally drives users’ attention like hero image, which is visible without having to scroll the website. Your prospects or visitors are likely to convert into a customer if a CTA is easily noticeable.

Why A Digital Marketer Should Consider UI?

After you are done with the UX part, now it’s time to create a striking interface of the user journey on app/web. In simple words, UI means building a pleasurable and easy-to-use interface that associates good feeling of the brand by communicating its value, builds trust, and create a personalized and immersive feeling.

  • Supports In Choosing The Right Color Palette Colors play a vital role in any web design because it is the first thing that stops the user’s eyes. The impact of color psychology has been seen intensely in the users. If you use a thoughtful color palette then it is likely that the user will stay and explore more. Also, the right choice of colors portrays a clear picture of what you are trying to deliver, which as a result, affects the user’s buying decision to a great extent. Just for an instance, there can be a huge difference in the user perception if you change the shade of color from light blue to dark blue. For reasons like this and many other, it is necessary to pay attention to the selection of colors that can help in symbolizing the value of the business.
  • Streamlines Your Font Picking Decisions Every font has its own story and picking the right set of fonts is vital to leave a right feeling/emotion on the user. For instance, what would it look like, if you write any formal letter with the chiller fonts?

*He was informed about the meeting.

  • It looks and sounds weird, right? Make sure you acknowledge the impact that outlines the significance of choosing the right set of fonts in the web design.
    • Fonts directly impacts the user decisions
    • It catches the reader’s attention
    • It builds a strong brand recognition

    The above reasons state that the right choice of typography in the UI design can really turn your good design into a great one. It will also affect the users’ buying decision and thus, affect the overall business outcomes.

  • Offer Suggestions To Include Videos In The UI Strategy Videos hold the power to build a strong emotional connection. People are more likely to connect their sentiments with video content as compared to others. UI designers are advised to include videos as they are the most trending thing these days. Businesses are able to increase their conversion rates and user engagement. Videos also improve search optimization and reflects unique messaging.
  • Helps In Improving Functionality The functionality of the site means whether the required buttons or features are placed in the right position and does the set of features helps the user in accomplishing the task easily! UI decides the right placement of the objects in the most appropriate manner that ultimately increases the visitors’ interest and converts their action into the purchasing item. The UI designer keeps track of the functionality and ensures that people are not misguided and interrupted on the website.
  • Guides In Restructuring Site Navigation Navigation is deciding a clear roadmap that is used by the user in finding out the relevant information that they are looking for on the website. This feature can cover both UI/UX because if you succeed in attracting customers but fail in delivering them the right set of information then it may affect site responsiveness. Simplified navigation will allow visitors to enjoy their journey and improve overall site performance.

Wrapping Up!

We couldn’t agree more, for marketing strategists the success of the businesses is not solely dependent on digital marketing strategies rather it is the combined effort of the design, layouts, and look and feel of the digital assets. Users have become more proactive and aware while making decisions on their buying journey. Nowadays, people do not just consider how the product is being marketed but how they are being treated when they land on the website, how their experience is. And all these factors share a deep connection among themselves. So, being a business owner it is essential to pay attention to the little details that are affecting user experience, website visibility, and user engagement, which is not at all possible without gaining customer satisfaction. To get in-depth knowledge or any other piece of advice on the similar topic, you can connect with our UI/UX experts and digital marketing strategists.

Best Practices To Build REST API from Scratch

The REST API was first introduced in the year 2000, and now it has its presence in almost every application. It can drive any type of application and is no less than a backbone which facilitates data transfer, storing, data management, and other activities in the app. As the study suggests, globally about 45% of data transfer takes place in association with APIs only.

The planned and strategic placement of REST API integration is the major reason behind the promotion of numerous tech platforms. While considering the fact, till now there are no set guidelines or defined standards to develop the APIs. During these years, a great number of developers tried their hands in custom API development to deliver enhanced solutions. But, not all made remarkable entries.

It’s been more than two decades, since REST API entered in the tech market, despite that developers are still struggling to achieve perfection in delivering API development solutions. Thus, while keeping all these concerns in mind, we’ve prepared a list of best practices to build REST API from scratch. The following instructions will support you in delivering top-rated REST API development services.

What is REST API?

REST- Representational State Transfer, was first presented by “Roy Fielding” in 2000 while pursuing his Ph.D. The REST API is a medium for two computers to communicate over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), in the same way clients and servers communicate.

Through REST API, the data access request is generated through message and relies on HTTP standards to describe the messages. Usually, the REST API design is considered as a simple request/response method, where each request receives an appropriate response.

REST is resource-based, that does not use heavy bandwidth such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) does. This makes RESTful APIs a better option to use over the Internet. There are a variety of APIs that have a difference in usage and it may work for you. So, always consider giving your users a handy API that can be used easily and comprehensibly.

Characteristics of REST APIs

1. Easy to View and Work With

A properly designed API is quite smooth and uncomplicated to work with. As, with repeated working on the same API, trains developers to easily understand and learn its resources and operations quickly. Overall, an ideal API has to be legible and easy to use, so that developers can effectively work with it.

2. Minimizes Chances of Misuse

The cases of writing wrong codes will almost get diminished when you integrate and implement your API while following best practices and having a clean and crisp design. In addition to that, it will provide valuable feedback while eliminating the requirement of enforcing any strict guidelines on the end users’ API.

3. Complete and Concise

A complete REST API makes it easier for developers to build the complete application with available data. Since development requires time, therefore developers prefer to work with the existing API. This strategy is quite a time-saviour for both developers and organizations to work with the available APIs initially.

After having a brief overview of REST API and its characteristics, the developers would like to develop or integrate an API with their system. Thus, to ease and streamline the API integration, below are the some best practices that an API developer or REST API development service providers can follow to develop the most suitable and easy-to-understand API. Let’s explore these REST API development services practices in detail.

Best Practices To Build REST API

1. Use JSON Format for Receiving & Sending Data

The RESTful API supports multiple data types, such as plain text, CSV, Octet Stream, XML, JSON, ZIP, XML, etc. However, JSON is considered as the standard for data transfer, globally. So, build the API that accepts only JSON payloads and returns a JSON response.

JSON (JavaScript Object Notion) – among all data types is the simplest programming language and format to use and is legible too. Despite that, not all APIs use JSON format. But, many developers are also inclining or replacing their existing SOAP (Simple Object App Protocol) with REST API design.

JSON is highly compatible and can be used by any programming language. It is easy to parse and extends supports to most of the existing frameworks to make REST API integration quite a straightforward experience. In addition to that, it supports a wide range of browser compatibility. Hence, it is considered one of the best practices for REST API development.

2. Use ‘Noun’ Instead of ‘Verb’

It is quite evident that we all know the difference between a Noun and a Verb. Well, the reason for using Nouns for API endpoint names rather than naming a verb is that – the API method is already passing the verb, so also naming the API endpoint with verb won’t be an intelligent call because nouns will clearly demonstrate what is the functioning of each endpoint.

The REST API development is also termed as Resource-based API prototype. While working on an application, the developers have to work on its collections and resources. The actions on such resources are named by using HTTP methods, which include GET, PUT, POST, DELETE, and PATCH. This leads to the construction of endpoint URL. Considering these methods, the correctly designed endpoint will look something like this;

Correct Method:

  • GET/articles/123
  • PUT/articles/123
  • POST/articles
  • DELETE/articles/123
  • PATCH/ articles /123

Incorrect Method:

  • GET/addArticle /123 (GET function is used to read data, not to change its state in any situation)
  • GET/DeleteArticles/123
  • POST/Delete AllArticles
  • POST/Articless/123/delete

3. Name Collections using Plural Nouns

Using plural nouns to build REST API, is not only just the best practice rather is the need of the hour. The REST API developers prefer plural nouns to address the collection. The plural nouns make it easier for the user to understand that it is basically a collection, not a single entity.

For Example;

  • GET/cabs/xyz
  • POST/cabs
  • Get/cabs

‘OR’

  • GET/cab/xyz
  • POST/cab
  • GET/cab

As an owner, you can consider your API data as a collection of a variety of resources from your customers. That’s why the name collection should prefer using plural nouns.

4. Define & Document Your API at One Place

Define and document your API details and features at a single place. It is fruitful, not only for developers but also for users too. As developers like to be aware in advance of what they are dealing with while establishing integration between the application and API. On the other hand, these documents will educate users too, by letting them aware of what is made available through the REST API.

The API documentation can provide details about the existing methods and endpoints, along with request/response and other details. Make sure to publish the API document as a browsable web page with interactive options. Try to include interactive guides, tutorials, and easily accessible resources. Evidently, the more API document is organized, the API access will become easier for your users.

These API documents will serve as a life savior for developers to get aware of all the existing endpoints at any time. Try to keep the API document concise and simple, so that any non-technical person can understand it easily. There are many API documentation tools, some of them are- Swagger UI, ReDoc, DapperDox, Swagger Hub, etc.

5. Error Handling

In the development phase, the project is always prone to errors, no matter what your expertise is. Likewise, in REST API development the developers have to experience errors, and it requires a skill set to handle errors. The effective API integration will always return accurate HTTP error codes and define the nature of the error as well.

It is always aimed to detect error as soon as possible and debug it, to minimize the development cost and time. Sufficient information about errors will help to analyze the cause and nature of the raised error. Usually, the error code or HTTP status is enough for developers to analyze by a small informative message, which makes it easier for developers and the user as well to understand and define the issue in layman language.

An error handling code should be associated as;

  • Error: a unique error identifier
  • Message: a short, meaningful, and readable message
  • Detail: long message explanation

For example, 400 Bad Requests: This error defines that the client-side input has failed documentation/validation. Or,

401 Unauthorized: This error arises when the user is unauthorized for accessing a resource. Usually, it returns when a non-verified user is trying to access the platform.

Overall, there are about 71 different HTTP status codes that are defined with clear error messages.

6. Allow Sorting, Filtering, Pagination, and Field Selection

Some of the important features of API design are Sorting, Filtering, Paging, and Field Selection. A single API can be used to perform all these tasks at a time, to fetch the data based on consumers’ requirements. Sometimes, an API’s database can be very huge and might slow the data fetching process.

  1. Filtering- Narrow down the result, based on the query under a specific parameter, e.g., date, location, contact number, etc.Example: ET /users?genre=action (filter movie list under ‘action’ genre)GET /users?release_date=2020-10-10 (filter the result of movies released on 10/10/2020, available on that specific platform)
  2. Sorting- sort the available data in ascending or descending order under a specific parameter, such as date, age, weight, etc.Example: GET /users?sort=joining_date:asc (sorts employee joining list in ‘ascending order’)GET /users?sort=joining_date:desc (sorts employee joining list in ‘descending order’)
  3. Paging- use ‘limit’ to define the number of results on a single page. It also uses ‘offset’ to define the specific part of the whole database displayed under result.Example: GET /users?limit=500GET /users?offset=5
  4. Field Selection- is a convenient REST API development function that allows to access specific fields to achieve a definite objective.Example: Require a list of all the movies uploaded in the year 2018 with specific details i.e., movie name, star cast, language, and director. Then the search query will look something like this;GET/ movies?fields=year, movie_name, star_cast, language, director

7. Using SSL/TLS Security Layers

Data Security is one of the major concerns for all businesses or any API developer. Thus, using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) for data encryption is one of the best practices to build REST API. Both the layers support generating a secure connection with public and private key for the users.

It is the major priority, as a security breach in terms of data theft or cyber-attack could cost millions of dollars and exposure of the user’s sensitive data and servers’ extremely private details. The SSL certificates are usually available for free for the first year and apart from that are mostly available at cheap prices. The server can load SSL certificates easily.

The security layers assure the security of API accessibility globally, especially on unsecured or non-encrypted networks. SSL/TLS layers ensure encrypted communication and data authentication, with simple tokenization i.e., without signing for each API request.

8. API Versioning

REST API Versioning allows developers to introduce updates in the data structure or specific actions. As the project is under development phase, the requirement evolves which might lead to introducing some changes in the API or managing more than one API version. One of the most common API versioning systems in web development is ‘Semantic Versioning’.

Ideally, an API never attains stability or we can say the updates and changes in an API are unavoidable. These versioning facilities will also provide flexibility to your users, such as they can prefer the most suitable API version rather than enforced to adapt the current version. Now, the concern that arises is how to manage and implement the changes. Therefore, to keep track of all the updates, it is suggested to keep each versioning details under a well-documented form.

The example of semantic versioning of a RESTful API follows a method of representation, i.e., 1.0.0, 1.3.0, 2.1.2, 3.2.4, etc. In this format, the first number represents the primary/major version, the second number represents the secondary/minor version, and the third number represents the patch version.

Conclusion

A good API development solution is not only about delivering the best technicalities but also providing a good user experience with an accessible and usable REST API design. There are a number of API options and the versions available and each version or method has its own relevance. Hence, it becomes crucial to evaluate the requirements and then select the most suitable API solution to integrate with the application.

To evaluate such requirements, any assistance in Custom API Development Services, or in-app development services, you can connect with proficient developers of Codiant.

Key Takeaways To Create A Trucking App Like Uber Freight

The on-demand services are engulfing the market rapidly with the assistance of new technologies and are turning into the market leader. Likewise, in the Logistics and Trucking App Development, Uber Freight has become a leading benchmark for the industry, not only in the USA but around the globe. Uber Freight has presented itself as one of the best trucking and logistics mobile apps that help businesses to track their fleet and redefine the supply chain.

If you are looking to create a trucking app like Uber Freight, then read ahead to understand its business model, best features, tech-stack, and cost that trucking apps like Uber require for developing a market-competitive application. Let’s delve into this, without any further delay.

What Issues Does A Trucking App Resolve?

1. Easily Trace the Cargo

For a cargo and trucking business, tracing cargo is considered one of the crucial aspects of the company. The assigned authority have to continuously monitor and maintain track of cargo movement from its source to destination. Thus, to ease the detailed tracking in the digital world, the companies are preferring Truck GPS apps to monitor the truck movement in real-time. Ultimately it enables ease in the tracing of cargos and facilitates customers as well.

2. Reduces Paper Work Formalities

A load of paper work management can make the task overwhelming for any individual. But, all this becomes easier to take care of, just by automating the business processes. The trucking app development can do it effectively and ease the entire process. Apart from that, business automation upkeep business payment, receipt generation, and performs other activities within a few seconds.

3. Easy Fleet Management

The trucking apps can easily locate vehicles and cargo. These truck GPS apps track accurate location and time on a meter-by-meter and second-by-second basis which enables to track transportation process and can even predict any issue before it arises. The truck GPS app allows drivers to identify hot spots and go with the shortest and fastest route. By using a trucking dispatch software solution, the admin can instantly learn of the whereabouts of the entire crew.

4. Reduces Delivery Time and Cost

Business automation reduces a good amount of expense on stationery resources, apart from that can identify the best route and can predict the fuel costs as well. Such details support to drafting of an efficient plan to reduce operational costs and increase competitive advantages.

5. Optimize Routes

Trucking Dispatch Software Solution delivers the best solution for optimizing the shipping routes. The route tracking helps in scheduling the dispatching time, selecting the most optimized route, and can also update the customer on the whereabouts of their delivery. All these assistance and timely deliveries enable to gain a number of satisfied customers frequently.

6. Information About the Driver

In the trucking industry, it is quite a tedious task for the owner to have handy access to their driver’s details, but all this becomes quite easier and more convenient through mobile applications. The apps support an extensive database of all employees, including drivers, which provides all details, such as working hours, daily schedule, personal details, and other details that present their history as genuine and reliable drivers.

Business Model: Trucking App Development like Uber Freight

Before planning that with how many trucks you are going to purchase and how much it’ll cost, you need to adopt a holistic approach. By designing a business model, it becomes easier to visualize the entire process from start to success in its entirety, along with the essential milestones. So, if you are the one getting into the trucking business and finding it hard to envision your trucking app development business model, then here presenting a well-defined and customized business model that is effectively deals with the trucking business solution.

Key Partners-

  • Shippers
  • Carrier and Agents
  • Customers

Key Activities-

  • Hiring Drivers
  • Managing Drivers Payroll
  • Customer Support Team
  • Marketing & Customer Acquisition
  • Product Development & Management

Value Proposition-

  1. Shippers
  • Optimize Route & Track Cargo
  • Manage Fleet Easily
  • Real-Time Fleet & Driver Tracking
  1. Carrier and Agents
  • Minimum Paper Work
  • Reduce Delivery Cost & Time
  • Boost Customer Satisfaction
  • Easy Payment Procedure

Key Resources-

  • Technological Platform
  • Skilled Drivers

Customer Relationship-

  • Review, Rating, and Feedback
  • Customer Support
  • Social Media

Channels-

  • Website
  • Mobile App for Android
  • Mobile App for iOS

Customer Segments-

  1. Customers
  • Seamless Online Booking
  • Track Real-Time Courier Movement
  1. Drivers
  • Driving Trucks to Earn Money

Revenue Streams-

  • Rides on a per Km./Miles basis
  • Cargo Delivery Fees
  • Advertising

Cost Structure-

  • Technological Structure
  • Drivers, Carriers, and Agents Payment
  • Marketing Expense

Must-Have Modules and Features in an Ideal Trucking and Logistics App Development

The trucking app like Uber freight is built from different perspectives and have multiple stakeholders that are all sewed together as one solution that enables each entity to carry out operations in sync without hampering any individual’s activities. The stakeholders in a trucking app development comprise several features and varied functionalities to stand out in the competitive market.

Usually, a Trucking and Logistics App Development have 3 different stakeholders, i.e. Truck Drivers, Customer, and Admin Panel. Here are some of the vital features that a trucking app like Uber freight must-have.

Basic Features in Trucking and Logistics App Development

Customer Truck Driver Admin Panel
Login/Signup Login/Signup Login/Signup
Mobile Number Verification Dashboard Dashboard
Search Carrier or Agent Manage Profile Search Customer
Book Transport Manage Shipment Search Trucks/Drivers
Track Transport Start/Stop Trip Manage GPS-enabled Routing
Edit/Update Profile Contact Admin Manage Vehicle Category
Push Notifications Contact Carrier Manage Bookings
Review, Feedback, & Ratings Route Navigation Review Bookings
Online Payment Settings Manage Truck Tracking
Push Notifications
Manage Reports/Invoice/Billing

Some Advanced Features of Trucking App Like Uber Freight

Customer Truck Driver Admin Panel
Mobile Wallet Integration Multi-lingual/Bilingual Support Manage Partnerships
In-app Chat Support Traffic and Weather Updates Offers & Discounts
Multilingual/Bilingual Support Suggest Fastest Route Multi-lingual/Bilingual Support
Voice Assistance Request Cancellation Address Complaints & Queries
Voice Assistance Bill Management
Roadside Assistance Geo-Fencing
Real-time Shipment Update

Some Prevalent Trucking Apps Existing In The Market

  1. Convoy
  2. Droppa
  3. Blackbuck
  4. Cargomatic
  5. Uship
  6. DOFT
  7. Keychain
  8. Transfix
  9. Hawk-Eye

Required Tech Stack for Building a Trucking App Like Uber

Selecting the most suitable technology for trucking app development can ensure its high-performing ability. So, while selecting the mobile app development company make sure the team can work effectively with the following frameworks and tools.

  • Mobile Platform: Android, iOS
  • Map & Navigation: Google Maps, GPS
  • Back-End:JS, JavaScript, .Net, Redis, MongoDB
  • Front-End: JS, Swift 3
  • Payment Gateway: Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, e-Wallets
  • Real-time App Analytics: BigData, Spark, Apache Flink
  • Push Notifications:io, Twilio
  • Navigation: Google Map
  • Database: MongoDB, Cassandra
  • Cloud Environment: AWS, Digital Ocean
  • Voice, SMS, Phone Verification: Twilio, Nexmo

How Much Does An App Like Uber Freight Cost?

The cost of a mobile app development relies upon several prominent and hidden factors. The evident factors are app complexity, tech-stack, app designing, features, functionalities, APIs Integration, number of development hours, number of manpower or team size, number of platforms, hourly rates, and others.

To develop a trucking app like Uber freight, it takes around 4 to 6 months. The development companies charge on an hourly basis or for the entire project development in the given time frame. The manpower charges immensely vary with the company’s location. For instance, the hourly charges for software development in the USA are around $110 to $170, and in Europe, these charges range from $60 to $175. Likewise, in Asian countries, especially in India, it is very cheap to find highly skilled and qualified app developers somewhat around $50 to $90 per hour.

In addition to that, the development team for building a very effective trucking app like Uber freight should have to be highly skilled and expert. The team resources include;

  • 1 Project Manager
  • 1 Business Analyst
  • 1-2 UI/UX Designer
  • 1 Back-End Developer
  • 1-2 iOS App Developers
  • 1-2 Android App Developers
  • 1 Quality Analyst

While considering all the influential factors, the cost for developing an average trucking app like Uber freight seems as follows for different platforms.

  • For Android App Development, it costs somewhat around $20,000, or more.
  • For iOS App Development, it costs somewhat around $25,000, or more.
  • For Web App Development, it costs somewhat around $30,000 or more.

Conclusion

An Uber for Trucking App Development usually presents a depiction of all in an application for the trucking business. It supports fleet management, shippers, and carriers management at the same time without any fuss. In addition to that, it also enables to connect with the shippers and carriers. However, it is not mandatory to develop such a diverse app, the app can be easily customized based on the business requirements.

To make all this possible, it is important to find the most suitable and expert Mobile App Development Company that specializes in fleet and trucking app development and can easily understand the customized business requirements. In this reference, Codiant can be the most suitable and reliable tech partner, who can support your business idea in developing an incredible Uber freight app, dealing with specific business operations.

Top 10 Back-End Frameworks for Web Development in 2022

As the world moves at a breakneck speed, websites and mobile apps are buying the users’ interests at literally no cost. The duo are predominantly nestling on World Wide Web and App Stores in a pursuit to increase the business visibility with widened customer reach.

Apparently, not all the web applications developed has that signature property which outshines businesses on search engines and open the avenues of revenue.

This is where, the role of front-end and back-end frameworks comes in! For web development, the front-end and back-end are the stage where the UI/UX props are set. These frameworks helps designers to develop a seamless, rich, and interactive UI/UX.

The front-end frameworks manage the user experience, whereas the back-end frameworks facilitate an app to function. The back-end frameworks are the libraries of server-side languages that promote the server-side configuration of any app or website. There are a plethora of front-end and back-end frameworks available in the market to build a suitable and user-specific platform.

The back-end frameworks are the collection of server-side programming languages that are used in developing the back-end structure of a website and application. These back-end frameworks provide pre-developed components to build a dynamic web app. The back-end frameworks give a supportive hand to developers for web development to minimize the threshold while developing and configuring the elements from scratch.

Since back-end frameworks play a vital role in web development, therefore seeking the right framework while considering the project requirements can be quite an overwhelming experience. Therefore, to minimize the hustle while selecting the one for back-end development, we narrow down a list of top 10 back-end frameworks for you to cater to your business needs.

Top Back-End Frameworks To Use In 2022

1. Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is an open-source server-side web app development framework. It is often termed ‘Rails’, and was introduced by David Heinemeier Hansson, under the MIT license. The primary and renowned users of Rails are Netflix, Zendesk, GitHub, Airbnb, Shopify, and Hulu.

Rails is used to design a faultless database table formation, the scaffolding of views, and migrations. To develop a dynamic web solution, Ruby can be effectively combined with CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. It is one of the prevalently used back-end frameworks, which includes rapid prototype development and MVPs, web platforms, and e-commerce solutions.

It is quite a convenient and easy-to-use framework as a feasible alternative for beginners. Rails had a huge and friendly community, along with that there are a number of study materials and tutorials are available that can help an individual to gain expertise in Ruby on Rails.

Features:

  • Rails is based on MVC architecture that allows data separation from the presentation.
  • It includes a database access library i.e. Active Record to simplify data handling in the database.
  • It includes a host of libraries to simplify the coding.
  • Can develop customized or search engine friendly URLs.
  • Detailed error logs make it easier to debug the app.
  • Reusable codes can be stored in the Components to modularize templates.

2. Laravel

Laravel is a PHP-based open-source web framework for Symfony-based web app development. It follows an MVC architecture to develop the back-end of the application and is introduced by Taylor Otwell. Laravel is often considered one of the best back-end frameworks for web app development. The renowned users of the Laravel framework are Deloitte, 6GAG, Bitpanda, MasterCard, Flutterwave, Razorpay, and Kmong.

The primary aim of the Laravel Web Development framework is to formulate the process of upgrading fun and single. It enables developers to design a customized solution for their web apps. It has a huge template system and brilliant documentation to make it easier for beginners to learn and have a good grasp of the back-end programming tool.

Laravel is equipped with a Blade templating engine. It is a pre-installed engine, quite powerful, and lightweight which assists developers to smoothen the development process with its excellent layouts. It supports developers to design a fascinating layout by using the content seeding feature.

Features:

  • It has Artisan, as an in-built command-line tool that automates the tedious repetitive programming process.
  • It offers robust app security with Bcrypt Hashing Algorithm to deduce an encrypted password.
  • It promotes lightweight built-in templates to design layouts and produce content.
  • It supports developers to use eloquent ORM to write database queries using PHP syntax without writing SQL codes.
  • It provides MVC architecture to provide multiple functionalities, promotes scalability, security, and better performance.

3. Django

Django is a Python-based high-level back-end framework where developers can find almost everything i.e. pre-coded modules. It is an open-source framework that helps to build a database-driven, complex yet interactive websites. It is developed by Adrian Holobaty and Simon Willon and is maintained by Django Software Foundation in the USA. The renowned users of the Django framework are DropBox, Washington Post, YouTube, Disqus, Spotify, Pinterest, and National Geographic.

The Django framework eliminates the requirement of installing and maintaining the third-party plugins as everything in the framework functions together. It is the best back-end framework based on the Python programming language which allows easy customization and scalability.

Django has massive community support and activities that an entire website is allotted to third-party packages that are designed in Django to do a variety of activities. It is one of the most popular back-end frameworks and provides a variety of functionality, such as REST API support.

Features:

  • It enables rapid web app development with less code writing.
  • It provides a top-quality user authentication system to maintain the platform’s security.
  • It is scalable in nature and enables the platform to avail flexibility to quickly switch from small to large-scale applications.
  • Developers can utilize the packages, such as site maps, RSS feeds, etc. to fasten the development process.
  • It is a highly versatile framework where developers can build applications for different domains.

4. Express.JS

Express.JS is a Node.JS web app framework and is often termed Express for building APIs and online applications. It is an open-source framework developed by T.J. Holowaychuk, Strongloop, and others, and is available under an MIT license. The renowned users of Express.JS or Express framework are Twitter, Accenture, Myntra, Wix.com, PayPal, Uber, IBM, and MySpace.

Express.JS framework supports the development of single-page, multi-page, and hybrid web apps. It is also considered one of the top back-end frameworks for building RESTful APIs and web apps. It provides a thin layer of primary web app characteristics and is easy to build a powerful and feature-rich API with different HTTP services and accessible middleware.

It is equipped with caching feature, which extends its support to developers, as they don’t require to execute the codes repeatedly. It supports quicker web page loading than ever. It can easily get along with MongoDB, NoSQL Database, Node.JS, and Angular.JS to cater to multiple requests such as GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE.

Features:

  • It supports faster server-side development by eliminating the demand of writing codes repeatedly.
  • It supports middleware that is responsible for the systematic organization of different functions.
  • It enables a highly advanced routing mechanism that helps to retain the webpages state just with its URL.
  • It enables template engines that support developers to build dynamic web page content by building server-side HTML templates.
  • It ensures an easy debugging process by pinpointing the exact part of the web application.

5. Flask

Flask is a Python programming language-based back-end framework that is simple to learn and implement. It does not require any specific library or tool, hence it is described as a micro-framework. It is developed by Armin Ronacher. The renowned users of the Flask back-end framework are Reddit, Netflix, Trivago, Gorgias, Patreon, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

It offers support for Jinja2 templating, secure cookies, RESTful API designing, and Unit Testing. It is quite a lightweight framework and suitable for small project development. Additionally, it does not possess a data abstraction layer, form validation, and other components where third-party libraries serve a definite purpose.

It supports an extension to introduce features and utilities for dynamic web app development. It is a versatile framework that is used for both small and large-scale websites and apps. It also supports custom-coded and extension modules to enhance app features, as if they were developed within Flask.

Features:

  • It uses minimal resources and is easy to set up and use.
  • Extensions are available to add desired features and allow coherent and well-designed APIs.
  • Flask supports multiple extensions to enhance the functionality of the project.
  • It includes Unicode support and enables rapid web and app prototyping.
  • It provides integrated support for unit testing.

6. CakePHP

CakePHP is an open-source back-end framework, based on an MVC architecture. It provides a foundation for developers to build a web app. It is a free-to-use framework, available under the MIT license. The renowned users of the CakePHP framework are Mapme, Education Unlimited, and Followmy.tv.

CakePHP allows developers to directly access Core and App directories while dealing with different standard classes of PHP. As a result, it becomes easier for developers to easily define the functions of each class. It has various libraries to perform a standard set of tasks.

This back-end framework is suitable for developing a quick prototype. It is a suitable choice for developing a secure, safe, and effective web solution. CakePHP is equipped with built-in security tools which help to eliminate general security issues, such as CSRF attacks, XSS attacks, and SQL injection.

Features:

  • It is a user-friendly framework that ensures easy customization and development of the website with the assistance of a template editor.
  • The advanced tools of CakePHP make the complex structure simple and ultimately support website development.
  • It supports Unit Testing and provides the necessary skills to ensure it offers the best functionality.
  • It is one of the suitable frameworks to develop a qualitative app at an affordable budget.

7. ASP.Net Core

ASP.Net Core is the latest version of the ASP.Net web development framework based on the .Net platform. It is an open-source, cross-platform back-end framework for developing cloud-based apps, such as IoT apps, web apps, and mobile back-ends. The apps can run on the cloud and on-premises as well. The renowned users of ASP.Net Core are, StackOverflow, GoDaddy, Dell, Ancestry.com, Diply, and Visual Studio.

ASP.Net Core is a modular framework that runs over the .Net framework across on .Net Core and Windows. It is the successor of ASP (Active Server Pages) programming language which enhances flexibility. It is available with additional tools and libraries for developing things for web apps and websites.

The ASP.Net developers require minimum time for app development and the process is cost-effective as well. It requires lesser coding and makes it convenient to build the solution in fewer statements, which requires less development time for back-end development. It runs on .Net Core, which supports multiple versions of the app to run simultaneously.

Features:

  • It supports containers and cross-platform app development.
  • It allows developers to use asynchronous programming patterns.
  • The availability of the Kestrel web server and ASP.Net Core makes ASP.Net the most agile web app framework.
  • It is language-independent, so developers can use different languages, like C#.
  • Supports web socket to build a client-server-based app, which establishes two-way communication with the browser.

8. Spring Boot

Spring Boot is an extension of the existing and expansive Spring back-end framework. It is an open-source and reliable server app framework based on Java to simplify the work on micro-services. It is introduced by Pivotal Software Inc. and supports both traditional WAR apps and standalone Java apps. The renowned users of Spring Boot are CRED, Udemy, Trivago, Intuit, and Hepsiburada.

It becomes easier for developers to use Spring Boot for backend web development because it omits various configuration overheads, unlike the Spring framework. It provides numerous valuable functionalities, such as caching, monitoring, security, configuration management, transaction management, etc.

Spring Boot simplifies the development and testing of Java-based apps and ensures default settings for Integration and Unit Testing. It supports developers in increasing overall efficiency during the development phase. It is equipped with a great number of plugins, which gives a free hand to developers to work conveniently with built-in databases and in-memory databases.

Features:

  • Spring and third-party frameworks get configured automatically.
  • It is available with a pre-built Jetty, Tomcat, and Undertow application server, which doesn’t require any additional installation to use.
  • The embedded servers provide quicker and more efficient deployments; resulting in short restart time.
  • The Starter Dependencies provide opinionated dependencies design to simplify the build configuration.

9. Koa

Koa is a JavaScript-based Node.JS web development framework, developed by the team of Express framework. It aims to provide a smaller, expressive, and robust foundation for web apps and APIs. The renowned users of the Koa.JS back-end framework are Pubu, Bulb, Clovis, Paralect, and GAPO.

It uses asynchronous functions to eliminate call-backs and effectively enhances error management. Koa doesn’t include any middleware in its core. However, it includes an effective collection of methods that fasten and eases the server-making process.

Koa.JS is different from other Node.JS frameworks, as it has been developed on ECMAScript 2015 and ECMAScript 6 (ES 6). These scripts ease the complex app development by presenting new modules and classes. It uses ECMAScript 6 generators to simplify synchronous programming and manages control flow. These generators can also be used as a function to control code execution.

Features:

  • It has smaller footprints, which help developers to write better and thinner middleware.
  • Uses ES 6 generator to streamline synchronous programming and supports both downstream and upstream control flow.
  • Uses middleware efficiently to simplify and improve error handling.
  • It supports developers’ use of ‘Context’ to encapsulate vanilla response and request objects into a single object.

10. Phoenix

Phoenix is a web development framework written in the Elixir programming language. It is a reliable backend framework for web apps. It is quite a similar framework to other MVC frameworks, like Django and Ruby on Rails. It functions with Erlang’s Virtual Machine and uses a server-side MVC structure. The renowned users of Phoenix’s back-end framework are Financial Times, Fontstore, Inverse, Lonely Planet, Bet 365, and PepsiCo eCommerce.

It is based on the Cowboy Erlang framework and Plug library to facilitate the development of a scalable and high-performing application. Cowboy server enables request/response functionality, and real-time external client communication through language channel features and Websockets.

The Elixir syntax enhances the development pace, additionally enables clean and decipherable code writing. It offers integrated tools with an active dashboard feature. The developers can gain instant insights on Erlang VM capabilities to tackle multiple connections with the tooling features of Elixir.

Features:

  • It delivers built-in support which makes it the perfect framework for real-time web app development.
  • It is written in a functional programming language, which allows the writing of reliable, maintainable, and easy-to-test codes.
  • Usage of Erlang VM feature helps to integrate the real-time system and ready-made scaling.
  • It helps to enhance productivity and also supports customization.

Conclusion

The details of the top 10 back-end frameworks will help you to make the right choice for your project. As the selection of framework gets influenced by multiple parameters, such as expertise, budget, project complexity, database, access of code, community support, etc. Additionally, consider the tool you opt for, is updated frequently to ensure that it is capable of dealing with common and new attacks as well.

So, if you are exploring such an expert company or developers in any of the above-mentioned back-end frameworks for your project, then you can connect with Codiant for a free consultation. Our experts can help you validate your project idea by selecting the right back-end web development framework.

How To Build A Taxi App: Top Features and Tech Stack

Prior Uber, Ola, and other similar types of taxi booking services marked their entry into the market, the traditional taxi services were in stiff competition. Such services have been under an unorganized sector where neither customers nor drivers were considered the priority. However, the picture changed drastically after the introduction of on-demand taxi booking app development in the market. These online taxi booking service providers have considered the profit business case for both stakeholders i.e. driver and customer.

In a short span of time, the transportation industry has evolved a lot and is luring entrepreneurs to invest in the taxi app development business. Though fleet systems like Ola and Uber are there to remain in the long-term competition, yet there is a huge scope for promising businesses to enter into the transport and taxi hailing industry and attract a greater market presence.

It all sounds quite fascinating for young entrepreneurs, right? So, if you’re mind-ready to start a taxi app venture and require firm assistance to take your taxi business online then here is the article to let you understand how to build a taxi app and what could be the most suitable and appealing features to attract an ample number of customers at a time and retain them for long-terms.

The Need To Develop An On-Demand Taxi Booking App

Taking taxi business online is the pressing need of the transportation industry. As taxi businesses are not going to be outdated, but periodically it will keep requiring some stimulant to retain customers and enhance their experiences.

The on-demand taxi booking apps can be the igniter to extend and enhance such services to a great extent. The taxi booking apps enable customers to book a ride instantly, widen their client base, and enhance user experience as compared to traditional taxi businesses.

In addition to that, the taxi app can make the driver’s experience quite convenient and easier to find passengers. Overall, the automation of the traditional fleet management system is a win-win decision for you, your customers/passengers, and the drivers. Moreover, the taxi app development decision will make your business process more structured and simplified.

Business automation also helps you to monitor business analytics of the generated data and use it in making better business decisions. These analytics could be a game-changer for your taxi business and provides an additional benefit in the competitive market.

If you are aiming to develop a taxi app like Ola or Uber then you require a huge server to cater to multiple user requests and monitor the taxi fleet at the same time. The app can guide drivers to select the shortest and less crowded path to reach their destination in minimum time. We are a web and app development company and have expertise in building both parts of apps for online taxi services – the client app and server software.

Taxi Booking Platform: An Independent Service Provider

Unlike Uber, if you don’t have a huge fleet of taxis but are eager to enter into the taxi industry, then you can do so, as there is an alternate for this by providing a taxi booking app service to the taxi drivers. It can be done in two different ways; one is a simpler mode however another is a bit complex.

1. A Taxi Booking App with Simpler Solution

The simpler taxi booking app is a single user interface for customers to explore multiple taxi service providers and their prices to choose the most convenient and cheapest yet a quality service provider. The customer can also directly call the driver through the app to book the taxi.

Additionally, you can introduce more services through the app to facilitate your passengers and drivers with Map Routing. The integration of Maps with GPS system supports drivers and customers to track the distance and find he most suitable route. Based on the distance, the user can also calculate the approximate ride fair according to per mile charges and service charges.

This simpler solution of taxi service doesn’t require a server system or database to manage driver and passenger details, ride details, and other variety of data that usually gets generated and stored in the individual taxi services application. Such types of apps require manual updating and monitoring to introduce any price change, offers, and discounts.

If you like to introduce such type of taxi services with server free solution, then you can connect with us to implement this idea and take your business into the competitive market instantly.

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2. Taxi App Development like Uber with Complex Solution

Taxi services app like Ola and Uber are one of the more complex and feature-rich solution that demands investment of time and money both in back-end development with the front-end. For such apps, you require a well-designed and highly secure server system to establish an interface between the user and the company. The business app has to deal with two different interfaces separately – one is of the passenger interface and another is of the driver interface.

Such complex apps are equipped with the latest technologies and functionalities to streamline the user experience and deliver quality services. The GPS, assist the server to spot the accurate location of the passenger who made the request for taxi services and then notify the nearest driver to pick the passenger and drop them at the requested destination.

If you are looking for a full-fledged taxi app development with the latest functionalities and tech integration, then you landed at the right place. We provide state-of-the-art services using the latest technologies with our years of industry experience in customized taxi app development. If you want to build a clone app or the customized taxi application, then we can do it for you for both Android and iOS platforms. We have a well-curated team of taxi app developers who are experts in their craft and can effectively deal with clients’ custom demands by introducing a seamless user experience.

Features and Latest Technologies Used in Taxi Booking Apps like Uber

Technology has become an evident part of every industry to introduce the best services to their customers. Likewise, in taxi app development, technology plays a vital role in enhancing the overall product and service delivery quality. Uber exercised this opportunity very precisely to facilitate its passengers and drivers. Uber forayed the vulnerable market with its marketing tactics, with the introduction of mobile applications, and acute customer-sensitive services that were well-focused to grab the attention of the prospect market.

As compared to traditional taxi services, Uber gave its passenger a touch of luxury, convenience, professionalism, and reliability, which helped it gain a huge market traction. That said, if you are also planning for a taxi app development then it is highly recommended to define your budget first. Since it is a very heavy and feature-rich application that could cost a lot.

To help you know the number of features and tech integrations that plays a major role in calculating a taxi app budget, here is your brief-to-detailed feature guide along with the supported technologies.

1. Live GPS Tracking

The advanced Taxi Booking Apps majorly rely on the GPS i.e. Global Positioning System, which locates the current position of the driver and assigns the trips accordingly. The integration of GPS technology is different for both Android and iOS devices. With a GPS tracking system, the passengers can track the waiting time in real-time for the upcoming ride. Hence, passengers don’t have to worry about waiting long for the taxi arrival, in contrast to that it could be a matter of concern with the traditional taxi services.

The Geo-location tracking system depends on three vital factors, i.e., accessing the location, providing the navigation details, and providing mapping software.

2. Built-In Maps and Traffic Data

The mapping system and traffic analysis in real-time enhances user navigation experience. To map the route from source to destination Google or Bing Maps can be integrated and the driver can select the most suitable route to skip the traffic congestion, or can switch the route during the ride to avoid heavy traffic.

Since Uber is a global taxi service provider, it takes map navigation seriously to facilitate its passengers and drivers simultaneously. Likewise, being a taxi booking app owner, you can integrate Google Maps in your Android and iOS applications to float smooth user experience with the mobile application and your services at the same time.

3. Payment Integration System

Passengers used to juggle a lot while making the payment to look for cash and coins wherein the online payment system or wallet integration can ease the entire process. The passengers can also avail themselves of offers and promo codes to get discounts on their current journey. The online payment system almost gives a feeling of no-payment, as the amount gets deducted directly from the passenger’s credit/debit card, or app wallets.

To introduce a secure payment integration system, you can use App Wallet, Braintree, Stripe, Mobile Banking, or other online payment modes. These tools once store the details of the customer and can be used later just by entering a security code to allow the specific amount to be paid from the chosen account. These payment integration systems are highly reliable and secure, thus can easily prefer one or more payment system to be integrated in your taxi booking app solution.

4. Fare Calculation

A dynamic fare calculation system is a very crucial feature of taxi booking apps. It help customers to analyze the average fare and time of the journey. The fare calculation of the taxi booking app relies on four components, which are base fare, cost per minute, cost per kilometer, and booking fees.

On the other hand, the Admin can also track the demand of taxi services and availability of drivers at a specific area at a particular time; based on that on-peak hours admin can increase the fare prices. Based on such analysis, they can set a fair price for a specific area for a period of time which attracts driver’s attention and safeguards the availability of enough number of drivers to deal with fluctuating demand.

5. Review System

The on-demand taxi service apps like Uber are more reliable than traditional taxi businesses. By empowering drivers and passengers with a variety of genuine details before and during the ride, these apps maintains reliability and perfection in the online taxi business as compared to the traditional taxi services. The review and ratings are very eminent for helping the drivers to get genuine ratings and feedback from the passengers.

In contrast to that, these passenger reviews can help other passengers too in selecting the ride and maintain security concerns. Therefore, simply introduce a rating and feedback system in your app to support drivers to build their profiles and guide passengers to be aware of the driver’s behaviour.

6. SOS and Emergency Contact

To provide a hassle-free experience and ensuring the safety of the passenger, the ride-hailing app like Uber should be equipped with a security feature, where users can add an emergency contact number and details. The passenger can exercise this feature every time he/she is using the taxi service.

Apart from that, the passenger can also be offered the SOS button in the ride app. By tapping on the SOS button, the passenger and ride details with current locations are shared with the nearest police station along with that informing to the predefined emergency contact. It is a highly effective feature for both driver and passenger to eliminate the security concerns.

How Codiant can help you?

When you are planning to convert your traditional cab service into an Online Taxi Booking App platform, then you should definitely consider these above-mentioned features in your application. For detailed discussion and analysis of project requirements, you can connect with our business executives.

We are an experienced taxi app development company and our team includes UI/UX designers, Android & iOS developers, Web App Developers, QAs, DevOps, and a very efficient management team along with other resources. These experts can develop a customized app like Uber as well as a taxi booking app with a simpler solution to introduce your automated taxi business in the competitive market.

How To Build A Chatbot with Natural Language Processing?

Humans are always likely to explore new strategies to simplify their lives by making upgrades through innovation. Earlier, chatbots were no less than a gimmick, which seemed fascinating but weren’t of real benefit. However, with passing time and evolving technologies chatbots have now become a quite fulfilling and demanding tool in the corporate industry.

The implementation of Natural Language Processing in Chatbots has made a significant mark in recent times. The intelligent chatbot with NLP enables bots to read text, hear speech, interpret it, understand sentiments, and determine other aspects. Such automation of customer assistance, regardless of any industry-specific allows companies to actively adopt chatbots to upgrade their customer services, and operations, minimize errors, and save time and money simultaneously.

Such advanced assistance strives for businesses to provide relevant information at any time, any place. This results in an unavoidable demand among companies to scale their business. If you are the one looking to build a chatbot suitable for your business needs, then without much ado, let’s proceed to understand building a chatbot with NLP.

Chatbot Market Statistics

  • The global Chatbot market size valued in 2020, was USD 430.9 Million.
  • In 2021, the Chatbot Market Size was valued at USD 525.7 Million.
  • The revenue is estimated to reach the figure of USD 2,485.7 Million by 2028, with a growth rate of CAGR of 24.9%.
  • More than 35% of respondent consumers like to see more companies provide chatbot features on their platform.

Overall, the demand for Chatbots is increasing among businesses and customers as well. Therefore, before analyzing the process to build a Chatbot with Natural Language Processing, let’s have a glance over NLP and Chatbot.

What is Natural Language Processing (NLP)?

Natural Language is a human-understandable and communicable method, and Programming language is a set of rules defined by humans that are machine-understandable to conduct a specific task.

Natural Language Processing is medium to establish communication between humans and machines, where it allows the machine to view and process information or commands from verbal or written user inputs. The NLP model enables computers to deduce and even apply the way humans can communicate.

Unlike general or common word processing operations, the NLP doesn’t consider text or speech as a sequence of symbols. Whereas, it considers the hierarchical structure of natural languages, such as words make phrases, phrases design sentences, and sentences can turn into coherent ideas.

These advanced chatbots learn from their experience, like a human, and don’t only look for keywords. Therefore, NLP uses pre-programmed and acquired knowledge to decipher the intent and meaning of the entered sentence structure, idioms, content, etc. It empowers multiple fields of computer science and deals with the concern to interact with the machine and human-understandable language. The NLP-based software supports a variety of features, such as;

  • Auto-Complete: In Search Engines, like Google, Bing, and Yahoo
  • Personal Assistants: Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana
  • Machine Translation: Google Translate
  • Spelling Check: Email, browser, social media, desktop apps (like MS Word), IDEs like Visual Studio

What is a Chatbot?

Chatbots are automated robots that communicate with humans in a natural format. The communication format includes texts and audio using Artificial Intelligence (AI). A chatbot is designed to work and respond to customers without any human-operated assistance. The AI chatbots respond to the query of the customer as it were a real person, and the responses usually are a combination of pre-programmed scripts and machine learning algorithms.

AI-based chatbots are dynamic in nature so they can learn from previous interactions. Subsequently, it becomes more intelligent to tackle complex and a variety of conversations. Whenever a question is fired, the chatbot responds to it by undergoing the available knowledge database.

In contrast to that, if a chatbot gets exposed to such a question for it isn’t programmed to understand, then it will transfer the call to the human operator or provide a message like it is not designed to answer such a query. It learns from such interactions and formulates accurate responses to deal with them in the future.

What are the types of Chatbots?

Modern chatbots rely on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to figure out the user’s intent from the context of their input and present relevant responses. Thus, based on the response-generation method, Chatbots can be divided into 3 types.

  1. Scripted or Rule-based ChatbotsThe scripted or rule-based chatbots follow a set of pre-defined rules for that only the tool can respond to the query posted by the user.

    It is quite a straightforward bot, yet the most widely spread bot. Most the industries are using such type of a chatbot, which includes e-commerce, social media, or live chat. However, these chatbots fail to comprehend the context of the query or intention.

    It is quite easier to build a chatbot on this concept, as it relies on a baseline of the “true-false” algorithm. The chatbot simply identifies the question and answers it accordingly, apart from that more improvements can be introduced by developers to enhance the service quality.

  1. AI-based ChatbotsThe AI-enabled chatbots are based on NLP and quite intelligently analyze the context of the subject and its structure using a combination of advanced technologies i.e., Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. These technologies provide a human touch to the chatbots, additionally, they learn and enhance their horizon of knowledge after every interaction.

    The chatbots with NLP can communicate to customers via text or speech, under the customer support programs on the website or mobile applications. These chatbots can quickly switch between customers or can handle multiple customer queries effectively at a time.

  1. Hybrid ChatbotsAs the name suggests, Hybrid Chatbots are a combination of both Rule-based and AI-based chatbots. The chatbot uses scripts and NLP to infer user queries and generate the response. It is trained to deliver specified results for the query and can also understand user intent due to NLP technology.

    The database of Hybrid Chatbots is easier to edit or update but has restricted conversational abilities, as compared to AI-based chatbots.

Benefits of Chatbots For Customers and Businesses

For Customers:

  1. Customers can expect instant and round-the-clock responses without any delay.
  2. Chatbots can reply attentively to multiple customers at a time.
  3. Businesses can attain consistency in answers and enhance customer experience.
  4. Chatbots can deliver a personalized user experience with a natural tone while building interactive communication.
  5. The Chatbots with NLP is open for Omni-Channel messaging support, such as websites, Facebook, etc.
  6. The automated chatbots support users to make orders or transactions without any human intervention or assistance.
  7. The chatbots can answer multilingual queries, which helps a variety of customers to get their queries resolved.

For Companies

  1. The Chatbot development supports businesses to engage more users and build an interactive environment.
  2. Chatbots with NLP are quite advanced that assist the customer in making the decision and tracking their journey on-site to improve lead generation.
  3. Chatbots can attend to customer queries without the support of any manpower, thus businesses can save a lot of bucks on manpower customer service, in training, and providing infrastructure to each attendant.
  4. Chatbots are excellent customer assistants that can analyze customer behavior and monitor user data, or extract users’ perceptions through some basic questions about the product and their requirements to gain insights. It helps to market the product differently to attract more users.
  5. Chatbots can interact with users in real-time and takes customer feedback that help businesses to strategize in increasing sales and directing the customer to the right place which results in driving the conversion rate.
  6. The AI technology with NLP chatbot development supports businesses to deliver seamless customer support. It can provide real-time support with a human touch while identifying the user intent.
  7. As chatbots are getting smarter day by day, businesses can automate frequent and common interactions to meet customer expectations.
  8. The chatbots are an effective tool to scale customer support without any additional human assistance and investments, such as during the festival season or during peak hours.
  9. Customers like being guided or assisted while exploring the platform, through tutorials or content guides. These chatbots can do that effectively by streamlining the customer onboarding process.
  10. No business likes to lose any prospective customer mid-way through the sales, here come chatbots in the frame that helps in minimizing the customer churn rate and make the customer journey smoother.

How to Build a Chatbot with Natural Language Processing?

1.Define and Set Goal

To develop a chatbot with NLP, the first and foremost step is to analyze the goals that a business requires to achieve with a Chatbot. Then, precisely define all the functions that should be implemented in the tool. Define the purpose and role of the chatbot in business and evaluate how it will help the business in terms of human efforts, business efficiency, time, or any other aspect.

Post that, set the feasible goals that you like to achieve with the chatbot. Such as a definite set of instructions that yields appropriate and systematic outputs. In addition to the business goals, the additional benefit would be when you analyze and understand your customer’s goals, as what they expect from the business.

Though it is suggested, initially aim for straightforward and simplistic goals, and gradually move on to more complex ones. Periodically, the goals can be modified with the progress in technologies and transformation in customer requirements.

2. Make Sure Your Chabot Doesn’t Sound Robotic

Chatbots are developed for customer assistants who are humans, so if you are genuinely aiming to improve the customer interaction, then ensure the chatbot doesn’t seem like an automated machine. To avoid such a scenario, it is recommended to use Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing to make text and voice-based response feels and sounds more like a human and easy to understand.

It can be taken care of as, the chatbot should reflect the humanized voice texture and always remains in the character, no matter the number of working hours, customer queries faced, etc. This will help to assign a personality to the chatbot which seems suitable for the business in customer support. Another aspect that needs to be taken care of while building chatbots is avoiding jargon and complicated English words.

3. Define Channel and Technology Stack

To build a profitable and user-friendly chatbot, explore suitable tools and frameworks that can effectively meet the user’s expectations. Frameworks could be the suitable technologies to develop a complex, yet profitable chatbot which meets customer support services as the user expects. Whereas, preferring tools over framework will limit the functionality of chatbot development.

Chatbot developers usually prefer the Twilio platform to build an NLP chatbot, whereas for text chatbots the most suitable platforms are Viber, Hangouts, or Telegram. The popular and commonly used tech-stack for chatbot development are as follows;

  • Python Programming Language: Used to design and develop the architecture of the NLP chatbot.
  • Pandas: A software library build on Python programming language to carry out data analysis and processing for the chatbot.
  • TensorFlow: A library, usually used for Machine Learning and Neural Network processes or tasks that support chatbots to understand user intents.
  • SpaCy: An open-source software library that supports Natural Language Processing, while specifying the users’ intentions through this advanced library.
  • Twilio: The developers can use programmed web service APIs to make and receive voice calls, send and receive text messages, and can perform multiple functions that are required during the communication.
  • Viber, Hangouts, or Telegram APIs: To integrate NLP chatbots with the website or messaging apps.

4. Development and NLP Integration

After research, analysis, and tech-stack decision, now is the time to plan for chatbot development. The development team can accurately implement AI, ML, NLP, scripting, and business logic integration on all virtual platforms and operating devices. The chatbot script development should be based on an accurate understanding of the business process that should be clear, concise, and consistent.

Chatbot with NLP transforms user texts and speech into well-organized data that can be understood by a machine. The overall chatbot NLP development process comprises multiple steps and is as follows;

  • Tokenization- It is also known as Lexical Analysis. Under this step, the chatbot development starts by dividing the texts of a sentence into small chunks i.e., ‘tokens’, and removing punctuations based on their meaning and relationship with the entire statement.
  • Normalization- It is also known as Syntactic Analysis. The bot then filters the texts with typos errors, common spelling mistakes, or slang, and converts those words into their standard form or ‘normal’ version.
  • Entity Recognition- After fragmentation and text normalization, the chatbot deduces to understanding the meaning of the text or topic of the conversation by analyzing the keywords.
  • Semantic Analysis- The bot then identifies the nouns, verbs, objects, and phrases which helps to understand the meaning of the sentence. It can be done individually by learning each words meaning and relation to the whole structure.

5. Testing

Testing is the key factor in the success of any chatbot, thus it is suggested to have a diverse team to implement real-user testing. To attain consistency and accuracy in the Natural Language the continuous testing process is recommended. Even after the deployment of a chatbot, regular testing should be conducted to review the chatbot components at frequent intervals. On requirement, you can provide updates and improvements in the NLP chatbot to make it more accurate and interactive.

6. Analysis, Training, and Update

After the deployment of Chatbot in the market, it is time to thoroughly evaluate its work. It can be done by extracting updates from the users. To make this possible, you can gather user feedback or personally interact with users to understand user preferences while interacting with the chatbot. Such, interactive sessions and the addition of user-based updates can promote the chatbot market and enhance the user interaction experience with the bot over time.

For training purposes, define the use cases of chatbots and identify your unique and distinctive goals, such that your entities serve a purpose. Thus, ensure that the chatbot should be updated regularly.

How Much Does It Cost To Build a Chatbot?

Usually, businesses consider that the chatbot development will cost them a fortune. In contrast to that, it is simply a myth while performing the chatbot cost calculation process.

The cost to build a chatbot usually falls under various influential factors, it includes the type of chatbot, technology stack, number of features integrated, in-house development or not, and the number of requested capabilities with data analysis algorithms. The size of the project is the major considered point while analyzing the cost to build a chatbot with NLP.

Considering the project division based on their size i.e., small, medium, and large. The projects are scalable and always have the scope for improvement, so start with small and gradually expand or update the chatbot services.

  • A Small Size Chatbot Development Project ranges from $2,000 to $10,000.
  • A Medium Size Chatbot Development Project ranges from $10,000 to $50,000.
  • A Large Size Chatbot Development Project ranges from $40,000 to $100,000 and more.

Conclusion

Smart solutions ensure the success of any business, and the introduction of chatbots could do the same. But, only developing the chatbot won’t help, rather the quality and delivery of customer expectation is more important than need to be introduced in the chatbot based on the business market. And that’s where Codiant steps in to be the solution provider.

Codiant has a team of developers with immense expertise in Chatbot Development Tools, technologies, frameworks, API integration, and a knack for customizing clients’ ideas. The developers can effectively build a scalable product that provides a good scope of development supported by trending technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, etc. Connect with us, to know more about new technologies and how you can build and scale the NLP chatbot.