Keyhole Software partnered with a large national grocery distribution organization to design and develop a proof-of-concept React Single Page Application (SPA) focused on modernizing and consolidating two legacy internal retail delivery systems. The goal of the engagement was to validate a new technical approach and user experience pattern before committing to a full-scale modernization initiative.
The application enables internal users to manage complex retail store and delivery-schedule data, replacing aging legacy tools with a modern, intuitive, and role-based experience.
Consulting Approach
A Keyhole senior consultant led the frontend architecture and implementation, translating business requirements and design concepts into an accessible, scalable, and maintainable solution using modern React and TypeScript best practices. In the absence of dedicated designers, the consultant also provided UX guidance to ensure a clean and intuitive interface aligned with end-user needs.
Key Highlights
- Modern Front-End Architecture: Developed multiple form-based React 19 SPAs using React Hook Form and Zod for schema-driven validation, enabling scalable, configuration-based form logic adaptable to evolving business rules. [See the associated blog post!]
- Reusable Component Library: Built a custom component library extending Material UI 7+ to enforce consistent styling, accessibility, and maintainability across all applications.
- Testing Infrastructure: Implemented Jest for unit and integration testing and Playwright for end-to-end automation, ensuring application reliability throughout development.
- Optimized Developer Workflow: Managed a monorepo with NX and Vite, improving build performance, workspace organization, and overall developer productivity.
- Security & Access Control: Designed fine-grained role-based access control (RBAC) at multiple layers—routes, pages, and fields—to protect sensitive retail data and meet compliance requirements.
- CI/CD Collaboration: Partnered with another Keyhole consultant to integrate frontend deployment with Kubernetes-based pipelines, supporting both local and production environments.
- Agile Adoption: Introduced a bi-weekly demo cadence and continuous stakeholder feedback loops, shifting the client from a traditional waterfall model toward an agile, iterative development culture.
- Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing: Provided guidance and informal mentorship to other developers, fostering a deeper understanding of modern testing frameworks and form-driven architecture.
Engagement Results
The proof of concept successfully demonstrated that rapid, iterative frontend development is achievable and valuable within the historically waterfall-oriented environment. Positive business feedback confirmed the feasibility of the new approach, paving the way for additional modernization and application development engagements with Keyhole Software.
Technologies Used: React 19, TypeScript, React Hook Form, Zod, Material UI 7+, NX, Vite, Jest, Playwright
“The successful proof of concept validated a modernized approach to application development—leading the client to continue partnering with Keyhole Software for future initiatives.”
