In their quest to establish their official website, ACME initially chose React to build their website. However, they found themselves facing protracted development timelines.
Here's why: ACME, like many growing startups, was a team fueled by fresh perspectives and included newcomers in their domain. Therefore React's JSX syntax and the need for in-depth JavaScript knowledge posed a significant challenge for these newcomers.
React, while powerful, primarily focused on the frontend, necessitating ACME in search of additional tools and languages for a complete solution.
The absence of native Markdown support in React complicated content integration, while the lack of an integrated design system forced ACME to lean on third-party libraries and delve into custom styling solutions. Even simple features like dark mode implementation often entailed wrestling with intricate custom CSS.
These challenges culminated in project delays, underscoring the rigid pace of their development cycle. A substantial portion of these delays resulted from an over-reliance on developers.In search of efficiency, ACME turned to Webflow, enticed by its reputation for rapid setup. While content management became a breeze, design and functionality aspirations were consistently hampered, leading to constant battles to align either their design or content with Webflow’s rigid framework. For instance, content edits in Webflow could disrupt design layouts, requiring multiple template and page adjustments, increasing the risk of inconsistencies.
Webflow's focus on visual web design, although beneficial, sometimes constrained full-stack control and customization options. Furthermore, hosting on Webflow's platform meant potential dependency on the platform's policies and pricing.Fueled by a desire for a more practical solution, ACME decided to give fastn
a
chance. Their journey began with a 30-minute training session
for the
entire ACME team on how to build and manage a fastn-powered website.
The spotlight then fell on Pooja, ACME’s UX designer, who possessed a deep understanding of the brand and its target audience, took up the task to build the ACME website.
She explored fastn's featured page and selected
the midnight storm
landing page template. Following the steps in the
User Manual,
she created a new GitHub repository
by clicking on Use this template
button on GitHub.
This guide facilitated the process further.
As you can see in the image below, within the fastn.ftd file, the requisite dependencies like color scheme and typography are already added. This eliminates the need to specify font sizes and colors for individual UI elements and ensures a consistent look and feel across the website.
This also streamlines future changes, as all it requires is modifying a few lines of code to add the new color scheme and typography.Simultaneously, Priyanka from the content team proceeded to populate the ACME website with content. The native Markdown support transformed content into code effortlessly.
Compare the following source code versus live page to appreciate how fastn's user-friendly and minimal syntax enables individuals with no prior programming experience to code effortlessly.
Services Page: Code vs Live Page
About Us Page: Code vs Live Page
Pricing Page: Code vs Live Page
ACME's transition to fastn allowed every team member to contribute to the website without solely relying on the developers.
Here are few scenarios that highlights how each team member implemented a change.The Business Team's insights from a recent meeting have prompted to modify the Pricing Plan values to enhance conversions. As a result, Harish, the Product Manager, decided to bring down the price of the startup and Enterprise Plan.
By editing thepricing.ftd
and updating the existing prices with the new
figures, he swiftly implemented the change. As the pricing plan is a
component-based design, he only needed to adjust the relevant values./launching-color-support/
to /color-support/
.Ganesh, the Design Head, decided to give a fresh look for ACME's website. He revamped the website with a single line of code.
By removing themidnight storm
and introducing the midnight rush
package as a
fastn dependency in the fastn.ftd
file, he updated the layout, colour scheme,
and typography of the website.Since all components in the fastn ecosystem adhere to a unified design system, this eliminated the need for extensive design deliberations and quick development cycle.
The integration of fastn's built-in dark mode and responsive design improved user accessibility effortlessly. The most significant advantage was that modifying content no longer disrupted design, enabling swift website development.
Furthermore, ACME could now deploy their website on their server, securing control, privacy, scalability, and reduced reliance on external platforms.curl -fsSL https://fastn.com/install.sh | bash