Case Study

Developing a Cloud-Based, Multi-Device Gamified Learning Platform

EdTech
Industry
Education / EdTech - Non-Profit
Services
Product Strategy & Roadmap, UX & UI Design, Architecture Design, Backend Development, Frontend Development, Mobile App Development, Quality Assurance
Company Size & Location
Mission-Driven Non-Profit & India
Technology Stack
PHP (Laravel) · Angular · Android (Kotlin) · Raspberry Pi (LearnPi) · AWS (EC2, RDS, ElastiCache, CloudFront) · Jira · Bitbucket
Team
Product Strategist · Business Analysts · Solution Architect · UX/UI Designers · Backend Developers · Frontend Developers · Mobile Developers · QA Engineer
Timeline
Phased Engagement
01

Client Vision

The client is a not-for-profit focused on research-led innovation in teaching and learning, helping young learners and facilitators build real-world, 21st-century skills through modern technology and enabling scalable solutions in education and vocational training using ICT. Having successfully integrated technology into classroom pedagogy across India, they faced growing demand to deliver their entire content library digitally.

A mobile research initiative produced a blueprint for “anytime, anywhere” learning, and the organisation set out to deliver game-changing digital learning experiences across mobile devices to every stakeholder in its ecosystem - learners, trainers and facilitators, and administrators. The challenge they set: a simple, intuitive app fronting a complex system of engagement.

02

Challenge

Delivering rich, gamified learning to learners across India - many in centers with little or no connectivity meant solving hard problems of content, infrastructure, distribution, and data, all behind a deceptively simple app.

No Existing Data Interfaces  

Interfaces to data sources and back-end systems didn’t exist - data was kept in spreadsheets with no established APIs.

Reusing a Large, Mixed Content Library  

Years of blended-learning content existed in formats like Flash, Captivate, Articulate, and Storyline (some SCORM-compliant), plus standalone PDFs, PPTs, videos, and audio and new content was being created daily. The integration strategy had to minimise rework and define a path for future content.

Highly Variable Infrastructure  

Centers across the country had very different infrastructure - some with wired internet and PCs, others with no connectivity or digital devices at all.

Offline Content & Software Distribution  

Because some centers stayed offline for 6–12 months, over-the-cloud updates weren’t always feasible; distribution had to work offline.

Intermittent Data & Analytics  

Without guaranteed connectivity, usage and analytics couldn’t always be collected in real time - data had to be stored on-device and synced when connectivity returned, complicating reporting.

03

Solution

Focaloid partnered with the client from discovery through a multi-year build, delivering a cloud-based, multi-device gamified learning platform — engineered to work online and offline, on devices from tablets to a Raspberry Pi server.

MVP Tablet App with Side-Loaded Content  

Launched an Android tablet app with existing content side-loaded via SD card on a commercially viable tablet matching the required specs — converting 300 hours of Flash content to HTML5 for in-app rendering.

Learning & Student Management  

Built a Learning Management System to create, manage, deliver, and track courses (with trainer-uploaded custom content) and a Student Management System for centers, staff, students, courses, and batches.

Gamified Content & Community  

Delivered 250+ hours of interactive, gamified content across 21st-century skills - Communicative English, Life Skills, Work Readiness, Digital Literacy, Technology in Careers, and Self-Employment - plus a peer-to-peer community of students, trainers, and alumni with built-in rewards and recognition.

LearnPi for Offline Access  

Built LearnPi, a low-cost Raspberry Pi–based server that lets users access the platform even in fully offline settings.

Real-Time Analytics & Admin  

Provided real-time analytics to track learner progress and performance, and a web-based admin panel for HQ, center administrators, and facilitators to manage learner records, with dashboards on user acquisition, centers, and geo-location.

04

Our Approach

Focaloid ran the engagement as a multi-year, phased product journey from a discovery workshop and MVP through web, mobile, offline, and analytics capabilities.

Discovery & Roadmap  

Began with a discovery phase - Focaloid business analysts, architects, and developers with the client’s stakeholders to finalise first-version features and build the product roadmap.

MVP First (2016–2017)  

Launched the tablet app with side-loaded content and over-the-cloud updates, delivering 300 hours of digital content and 21st-century skilling toolkits.

Scale Across Devices & Offline (2018–2019)  

Launched the web-based learning platform, rolled out LearnPi across 50+ centers in 8 states, added progress tracking, real-time analytics, gamification, and a personalised learning experience, and launched the mobile app - reaching 4,000+ active users and 170+ mobile-first lessons.

Engagement & Employability (2020)  

Released an upgraded mobile app adding job search for students and alumni, alumni engagement, a thriving peer community, and downloadable lessons for offline access.

05

Result / Impact

For the Client

  • 190,000+ youth trained to date
  • 25,000 students learning through offline digital content
  • 250+ hours of interactive, gamified content, videos, and assessments delivered
  • ~60% reduction in deployment costs via the low-cost LearnPi server

For Reach & Platform

  • 50+ learning centers across 8 states reached, and expanding
  • 4,000+ active mobile app users, with 170+ mobile-first lessons
  • Secure scalable, reliable cloud-based architecture custom-built to the mission
  • Online + offline access regardless of a center’s connectivity

For the Business / Mission

  • A custom LMS and full learning ecosystem tailored to the organisation’s needs
  • Continuous improvement and upgrades driven by ongoing user feedback
06

Why It Matters

Skills can change a young person’s life - but only if the learning actually reaches them, wherever they are. For learners in centers with patchy or no internet, a cloud-only platform would simply leave them out. By building a gamified learning platform that works across tablets, web, mobile, and even a low-cost offline Raspberry Pi server and that syncs data whenever connectivity allows - Focaloid helped the organisation deliver rich, engaging learning to learners regardless of their infrastructure. The result is real reach: 190,000+ youth trained and tens of thousands learning offline, with the kind of digital experience that keeps them coming back. That’s technology serving the mission, not the other way around.

Let's build

Building a learning platform that has to reach everyone - even offline?

We partner end to end, from product strategy and UX through cloud architecture, mobile, and offline-first delivery, to build engaging, gamified platforms that work wherever your learners are.