BACK
UPLOAD
LETTERS
LETTERS
UPLOADLETTERS
UploadLetters is a Texas based startup that provides sending First-Class Mail®, Certified Mail® and Priority Mail® letters digitally.
Golang
AWS
React
Lavarel
Python
CLIENT
Uploadletters
TEAM MEMBERS
6
TIMELINE
14 months
SERVICES
Development
ABOUT
The main idea of Uploadletters is that you submit a PDF document online and your addressee receives it as a physical mail (on paper in the envelope) delivered by USPS (United States Postal Service).
Traditional mail is still actively used by state and local government agencies, financial institutions, law firms, construction companies, small businesses etc. Uploadletters makes their job easier: no more printing, fitting in envelopes, sending couriers, just a few clicks and done.
Business
requirements
requirements
Bulk action
First, considering that the main clients of Uploadletters typically send a lot of mail (up to thousands of letters per day) they should be able to submit documents and addresses in bulk. At the same time, the infrastructure of the service should be stable and scalable enough to handle the load and provide a smooth user experience when a lot of new users arrive.
Safe space
Second, it should comply with USPS rules and regulations and be safe to protect all the private and sensitive data to be sent.
User experience
Third, it should provide a great up-to-date user experience, including a pleasant intuitive user interface, fast and convenient billing, Microsoft and Google OAuth, different account levels and payment options (the more you send the cheaper a letter), the ability to submit data by uploading file or OCR (Optical character recognition) from paper sources.
SCOPE
As the first stage, we had to develop a USPS API integration layer. Then we moved to full-cycle web application development: requirements gathering, UX/UI prototyping, frontend and backend development, cloud infrastructure deployment, QA, post-production support. It includes:
Integration with USPS for sending letters, tracking delivery statuses, return recipes requesting, generating barcodes, unique print marks per page
OCR documents scrapping
High-load API and separate authorisation layer
Authentication via Google, Microsoft, email. Application access levels based on user roles
Team management
Admin platform for managing users, content on the platform. Integration with 3rd party print shop
Balance and transactions
Integration with Stripe
“Aside from providing superior
products, their ability to
genuinely interact on a personal
level impresses us the most!”
products, their ability to
genuinely interact on a personal
level impresses us the most!”
Client
Project
architecture
architecture
We started building the application already with microservice architecture from the very beginning. It makes the app more overload-resilient and creates a firm foundation for future scaling.
Frontend was made with React as an easy-to-develop and support mainstream solution. Considering the app features set, Laravel + Laravel Nova was an optimal choice for the back-end in terms of development speed & budget. We deployed the cloud infrastructure at Amazon Web Services. Also, we’ve built an external API module for Enterprise customers, which are submitting their batches via API and integrating with their internal CRMs. We used Golang for this as it’s fast, memory-optimized and it looked ideal stack for that specific task
Stripe was chosen as a payment processing platform for this project. We also integrated a third-party print shop.
Also, one of the killer features is the OCR scrapping module, which allows users to scrap addresses from the huge PDF letter images and split them based on that. We got a benchmark, where we are able to scrap 5000 addresses in 7.7 seconds.
Development
We started cooperation as a partnership to develop an API integration with the United States Postal Service. Then, having good results and positive experience with the customer we extended our partnership to full-cycle turnkey web application development.
The team consisted of a full-stack developer, a Golang developer, a part-time designer, a DevOps, and a PM/QA.
Frontend, backend, AWS development went smoothly and it was fun to do it after finishing the most challenging parts.
API Integration
The main challenge was to make API integration with the United States Postal Service (USPS). It should comply with USPS strict terms of use and XML-only request standards. Plus there was fairly basic documentation, limited user support, no SDK, and example code.
Productive OCR
The second challenge was developing a highly productive OCR, as it is the killer feature for non-enterprise users, which allow them to upload huge PDFs, select an area on the first page and step, and after the software makes the split and builds the letters
Contact us if you have any projects in mind
