Project presentation

Run-Chicken, a sub-brand of the Slovenian company RUN-TIGER, created one of the world’s most popular automatic chicken coop doors — with 90% of their sales on Amazon.com.

However, their early success came with growing pains:

🔺 Their open web-based controller was being copied and rebranded by competitors.

🔺 Knock-off sellers were flooding Amazon with cloned products.

🔺 The company had no direct insight into their customers preferences, usage patterns and profiling data.

They reached out to U-centrix to help them take back control — with a secure mobile platform and a long-term digital strategy.

Challenges and Goals

Run-Chicken’s early web-based solution helped sell thousands of coop doors (90% via Amazon), but left their code exposed to copycats. Clones flooded the market, eroding brand trust and profit margins. They needed a secure, scalable platform to protect IP, reduce Amazon dependency, and build direct relationships with customers.

U-centrix delivered a complete digital platform with:

🔺 Native Android & iOS apps

🔺 A secure cloud-based microservice backend

🔺 Admin portal for support and insights

🔺 Push notifications for direct communication

🔺 Full CI/CD, analytics, and multilingual support

By shifting to a closed mobile app and cloud architecture, Run-Chicken gained control, security, and a future-proof channel to grow their brand and expand their smart product lineup with direct personalized sales strategies.

Details on Case Study

Agile Development Process

We applied Agile Scrum methodology throughout the project. We held workshops with the Run-Chicken team to define requirements and user stories. The team used weekly sprints with constant feedback: after each sprint we demonstrated the app to the client for review. This iterative approach (backed by test-driven development) ensured high quality and flexibility. By involving Run-Chicken at every sprint review, we could adjust priorities on the fly and deliver value continuously.

Microservices Architecture:

We split the platform into independent microservices to maximize agility. Each service (e.g. user management, device control, notifications) can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. This decoupling means updates or failures in one service don’t bring down the whole system. For example, a spike in door-control requests only scales that service without affecting the user database. The microservices approach also provides fault isolation: even if one service has an issue, others remain operational. In practice, we host these services on Amazon Web Services (AWS), using containerization and load balancing to handle global user traffic.

Technology Stack

The backend was built on C# and .NET, leveraging the team’s expertise in that technology. We chose PostgreSQL for the relational database due to its robustness and familiarity. To connect components, we used RabbitMQ as a message broker: it provides reliable, asynchronous communication between microservices (improving scalability and fault tolerance). In summary, .NET Core and PostgreSQL deliver high performance and maintainability. For the mobile client, we used React Native with TypeScript. This allowed us to maintain one shared codebase for both iOS and Android. The rich React Native component library and TypeScript’s type safety enabled rapid development of a polished interface. As a result, we could quickly iterate on features while ensuring a high-performance, stable app.

Automated Testing & Monitoring

Quality was ensured by a test-first approach. The development process included unit tests for every backend endpoint and integration tests for user scenarios. These tests run automatically on each deployment, catching errors early. We also used end-to-end UI tests to simulate real user interactions. In production, we set up health checks and monitoring dashboards — each microservice exposes a /health endpoint for minute-by-minute verification. We monitor unusual behavior in both the app and backend using Sentry and Signoz. With every new deployment, Sentry tracks crashes and alerts us immediately, allowing quick resolution of issues. Signoz collects logs and distributed traces (via OpenTelemetry), helping us detect backend anomalies and performance problems. Its real-time logging and root-cause analysis pinpoint exactly which service and operation failed. Together, these tools provide full visibility into critical errors and system health.

Environments and Deployment

We adopted separate Development, Staging, and Production environments — with DEV for testing new code, STAGING for pre-launch validation, and PRODUCTION on AWS with auto-scaling for high availability. Infrastructure is defined as code for easy replication, and deployments are fully automated via GitLab and Jenkins. Each push triggers unit and integration tests, followed by safe rollouts through staging to production. Our CI/CD setup, based on Gitflow branching, ensures consistent, reliable releases.

Identity and Security:

For authentication and user roles we integrated Keycloak. Keycloak is an open-source identity platform that provides single sign-on, user federation, and role-based access control. We configured Keycloak so different employee groups (e.g. support agents vs. managers) see only the features they need, preventing permission confusion. This solution also supports multi-factor login if needed, ensuring that user data and device commands remain secure.

UX Design and Prototyping

The UI/UX process was central to creating an intuitive app. We began by defining use cases based on Run-Chicken’s needs, then built a Proof-of-Concept (POC) app to validate key features like login, device pairing, and door programming — ensuring our assumptions were solid before deeper development. In parallel, we created wireframes in Figma, which evolved into high-fidelity interactive prototypes reviewed and refined with the client and QA team for usability. Once approved, we implemented the final dark, sleek UI as requested. Since core functionality was already in place, styling and polish moved quickly.

Launch and Analytics

The first public launch occurred on November 15, 2023 (Android and iOS). We equipped the app with Google Analytics to measure user behavior. Analytics reports combine data from both platforms and track user journeys through key screens. We also segment metrics by app version to assess the impact of each update. These insights show which features are most used and where users drop off. This data-driven approach helps prioritize future improvements.

Outcomes and Next Steps

🔺 5,000+ active users in the first month after launch

🔺 Zero downtime across global usage

🔺 Full control over the sales channel and brand messaging

🔺 Secure, scalable platform ready for IoT and Bluetooth expansion

🔺 Future-proofed admin and device update architecture

The combined engineering efforts paid off quickly. Within one month of launch, the app had over 5,000 active users. By providing direct communication via push notifications, Run-Chicken can now promote new products and firmware updates straight to customers. U-centrix continues to support Run-Chicken with ongoing updates. We follow semantic versioning: major releases for big features, scheduled minor releases for improvements, and immediate patches for critical fixes. Future plans include an administrative dashboard for company staff (user/device management, notification center, audit logs) and an app update to support a new Bluetooth‑enabled chicken coop door. In summary, the U-centrix team delivered a fully functional, scalable platform that addresses Run-Chicken’s initial challenges and sets the stage for continued innovation.