Case studies
Our work
Real systems built for real clients. Details anonymised where required.
The challenge
Member management & learning platform for a national security association
A fully automated membership system replacing manual processes for one of the UK's leading professional security associations — serving over 9,000 members across five membership types.
IPSA — the International Professional Security Association — is a professional body representing security professionals across the United Kingdom. As their membership grew, their manual processes couldn't keep up.
Every time a new member joined, someone had to manually create their certificate, type in their name and membership number, add the expiry date, format it correctly, and email it out. With thousands of members across five different membership categories, this was taking hours every week.
They had no structured application review process, no approval workflow, no way for members to access training materials online, no gamification to encourage participation, and no audit trail for administrator actions.
Admin portal — full operational control
- Overview dashboard — Complete visibility across 9,074 associate members, corporate partners, charity organisations, affiliates, and supporters — all live in one screen with real-time activity.
- Member management across 5 types — Each membership type has its own tabbed view. Search, filter, edit, and export the full member list to Excel in one click.
- Application management — 207 applications processed through a structured workflow. Each shows the applicant's name, type, and status — Pending, Approved, or Rejected. Full detail modal with identity documents; approve or reject in one click. Filterable by type: Associate (145), Corporate (32), Charity (3), Affiliate (26), Supporter (1).
- Certificate generator — Select a member, see a live certificate preview complete with their full name, membership number, tier (Bronze, Silver, Gold), dates, and the signatures of the IPSA Chair and CEO. Download as PDF or email directly — all from one screen.
- Gamification engine — 9 badges auto-awarded on custom triggers: First Steps, Quick Learner (500 pts), Safety Champion (1,000 pts), Expert (2,500 pts), Community Leader, Event Star, Resource Guru, Dedicated Member. Zero admin action required.
- Bulk import — CSV upload to onboard hundreds of members at once. Downloadable template, instant activation.
- Activity log — 702 admin actions logged and searchable. Every entry shows date, time, admin name, action type, and description. Filterable by admin, action type, and date range.
- Training & resources — Content uploaded per membership type. Associates only see Associate content. Resources categorised by type — Guides & Manuals, industry documents, reference material.
Member portal — for security professionals
- Associate dashboard — Personalised with member name, type, level, and total points. Four stat cards: learning points, skill level, courses completed, certificates earned.
- Gamified learning — Viewing a PDF or video immediately triggers a real-time "+10 points earned" notification and auto-awards badges when thresholds are reached.
- News & events — Live industry news feed and upcoming IPSA events with direct booking from the dashboard.
- Onboarding — 4-step application form with password strength validation and approval-gated dashboard access.
Certificate generation went from hours of manual work to seconds. 207 applications processed through a structured workflow. 9,074 members with personalised dashboards, gamified learning, and automated certificates — managed by a small team across five membership types.
The challenge
Completed a stalled pilot marketplace when the original agency couldn't deliver
A client had contracted an agency to build a professional pilot discovery platform. The project stalled before completion. We were brought in to assess what existed, complete what was missing, and deliver a production-ready marketplace.
An agency had been hired to build a pilot marketplace — a platform allowing companies to discover, evaluate, and hire professional pilots online. Partway through, the agency hit a wall. Core features were incomplete, the subscription model wasn't functional, the corporate team management system hadn't been built, and the admin moderation layer was missing entirely.
The client needed the platform delivered. The agency needed a specialist who could come in, understand an existing codebase they hadn't written, identify exactly what was broken and what was missing, and complete the build without starting over.
Assessment and takeover
- Mapped the existing codebase — what had been built, what state it was in, what was missing
- Planned a module-by-module completion approach to avoid a full rebuild
- Identified four missing systems: subscription gating, corporate team dashboard, review engine, and admin moderation
Pilot discovery & profiles
- Public-facing marketplace stabilised and completed — searchable by name, aircraft type, and location
- Full three-section profile layout: photo and recommendations, professional details (aircraft flown, endorsements, work history, certifications, license type), and live rating breakdown across Safety, Skills, and Professionalism
Structured review system
- Three-criteria professional rating system: Professionalism, Safety, and Skillset — each rated 1 to 5
- Detailed rating guide modals explaining every star level in plain language for consistent, meaningful reviews
- Anonymous submission with admin verification, written commentary, and hire recommendation flag
Subscription & access gating
- Single User — $40/month (1 login)
- Team Membership — $100/month (3 logins)
- Team Membership — $150/month (5 logins)
- Each plan gates access to pilot database, profile viewing, ratings history, and review capability. No active plan → redirect to pricing.
Corporate team dashboard & admin moderation
- Team management — Account owners track member count vs plan limit, invite via unique tokenised links, view Owner / Active / Pending statuses, and remove members
- Invitation security — Unique link per invitee, auto-detects email provider, mismatch detection with clear error if wrong account used
- Admin pilots queue — All applications in a card grid; full detail modal with one-click approve or reject; approval revocable at any time
- Admin reviews queue — Every submitted review queued for approval before going live — showing reviewer, pilot, date, star rating, criteria scores, and written content
The agency delivered to their client on time. The platform launched as a live commercial marketplace with real subscription revenue, real pilot profiles, and a moderation system that keeps content quality high. The client got what they were promised. The agency kept their client relationship intact.
Why this matters for your next project
Agencies take on projects that grow beyond their capacity. Codebases get complicated. Deadlines don't move. When that happens, you need someone who can step in without ego, understand work they didn't write, and deliver. That's exactly what we do.
The challenge
Aspireon — Board AI Governance Assessment Platform
The client had a clear vision: a platform allowing companies to assess how well their board of directors understands and governs AI risk. They'd built ~60% with AI coding tools but the codebase was insecure, database logic was exposed on the frontend, and the system couldn't be deployed to production.
The problem with the AI-generated code
Database queries ran on the client side. There was no auth middleware. API keys were exposed in the frontend. The frontend and backend were a single entangled file. It worked locally and nowhere else.
Assessment system
- Free public assessment (15 questions) via LinkedIn campaign links — no login required
- Individual paid assessment (27–28 questions) with deeper role-specific analysis
- Board member assessment — most comprehensive tier, multi-layer governance questions
- Progress bar, question categories, clean single-question-per-screen flow
Multi-role dashboard system
- Super admin dashboard: full oversight of all workspaces, engagements, commissioners, payment status, and participation rates
- Commissioner workspace: create engagements, invite board members by role, track participation, manage deadlines, release collective reports
- Board member portal: each member accesses their individual report, sees completion status, downloads their personalised PDF
- Engagement Control Center: release mode, deadline, participation readiness — always focused on what matters
Reporting engine
- Automated maturity score calculation (1–5 scale)
- Risk profile classification: Acceleration-Exposed or Abdication-Exposed
- Level descriptions with "what this means", "typical characteristics", "what to focus on next"
- Individual PDF reports generated per member
- Collective board report aggregating all member responses with risk mix breakdown
- Report release workflow: manual or automatic modes, with pending review states
Security & architecture
- Full backend rebuild — all database logic moved server-side
- Frontend completely separated from backend
- Secure invite links per member — no shared access
- Role-based access: super admin, commissioner, board member each see only their own view
A production-ready, multi-role SaaS platform used by companies across Switzerland and beyond. The system handles the full assessment lifecycle — from a free LinkedIn-linked entry point to a downloadable collective board governance report. The client went from a broken prototype to a live commercial product.
