HIMSS: Cutting-Edge Framework Leading to 10x Reduction in Development Costs

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to improving healthcare quality, safety, cost-effectiveness, and access through technology and management systems. Our task was to build various websites, including Health Care IT News and MobiHealthNews.
Since these websites are quite similar, our main goal was to create a unified framework using the UI/UX toolkit. This framework allows HIMSS to easily set up new websites without additional developer assistance. Given that the websites attract around 50,000 daily users, we needed a solution that would ensure stability during updates while benefiting the organization.
Project Overview:

• Location: USA
• Product: Website
• Scope of our work: Back-end, Front-end
• Technologies: Drupal, AWS, SASS / SCSS, Bootstrap 4
• Team: Back-end Developers, Front-end Developers, Project Manager
• Timeline: from 2017 to 2022 (development and further maintenance)

The framework was set up in a separate repository to provide HIMSS developers easy access. This unified structure streamlined website editing and allowed for simpler adjustments. To make changes, developers only needed to create a new CSS file using our designated naming conventions, while the framework components remained consistent. This efficiency cut down on website development hours.

It's worth noting that gathering framework requirements is a time-consuming process and requires periodic updates as new components emerge. To ensure up-to-date information, we assigned a developer to the project after the initial development. Any updates were promptly applied to both the framework and Confluence guidelines, providing HIMSS with the latest information for product development. The developer also conducted rigorous QA testing to ensure seamless compatibility with existing elements.

Developing a framework had a significant impact on HIMSS, leading to the following benefits:

• Streamlined Website Creation. HIMSS could now create new websites more efficiently. Designers only needed to establish the color scheme, simplifying the process.
• Rapid Annual Redesigns. Previously, redesigning all existing websites annually required months of teamwork. With our solution, a single developer and one week were sufficient, reducing development costs by 10-12 times.
• Resource Reallocation. Some tasks were so straightforward that assigning a developer was unnecessary. This flexibility allowed HIMSS to reallocate resources, leading to the development of a multi-site instead of separate ones. This approach streamlined the development process, as all websites shared the same code base, eliminating the need for numerous updates on separate solutions.