Solorence : design and development of a SAAS platform for consultant solopreneurs to manage business with coherence
Mohebi, Farzad (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060520573
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060520573
Tiivistelmä
The thesis project set out to design and develop Solorence – a unified, cloud-hosted workspace intended to replace the fragmented collection of tools typically used for scheduling, client management, documentation and invoicing. The objective was to reduce administrative burden while improving coherence in daily operations. The thesis was commissioned by Mantranic Oy, a Finland-based start-up founded by the author to examine how digital ecosystems can better support consultant solopreneurs.
A design-based research approach combined service-design theory, domain-driven design and agile software-development practices. User needs were identified through a literature review and a questionnaire answered by twenty-six consultant solopreneurs. Personas, journey maps and the Double-Diamond process guided iterative interface design, while a modular, containerised SaaS architecture was built with Django, Nuxt.js, PostgreSQL and MinIO. Continuous-integration pipelines automated testing and deployment to a Hetzner virtual private server.
The resulting minimum viable product was evaluated through heuristic usability reviews and expert walkthroughs. Findings showed a marked reduction in context-switching and faster preparation of client engagements, confirming that an integrated platform can enhance efficiency for solo consultants. It is concluded that service-designed, cloud-native solutions hold promise for this niche, though extended field trials are recommended before large-scale commercial rollout.
A design-based research approach combined service-design theory, domain-driven design and agile software-development practices. User needs were identified through a literature review and a questionnaire answered by twenty-six consultant solopreneurs. Personas, journey maps and the Double-Diamond process guided iterative interface design, while a modular, containerised SaaS architecture was built with Django, Nuxt.js, PostgreSQL and MinIO. Continuous-integration pipelines automated testing and deployment to a Hetzner virtual private server.
The resulting minimum viable product was evaluated through heuristic usability reviews and expert walkthroughs. Findings showed a marked reduction in context-switching and faster preparation of client engagements, confirming that an integrated platform can enhance efficiency for solo consultants. It is concluded that service-designed, cloud-native solutions hold promise for this niche, though extended field trials are recommended before large-scale commercial rollout.