FastPass: An answer to COVID-19
A week before March 13th, 2020 we were hustling to get the product ready for a formal launch at Superconf in our hometown of Miami. After so many years of working on it, PassNinja would finally be released into the wild. Then COVID-19 happened. Although I was following the news, I never thought that the pandemic would impact us with such speed and severity. Needless to say the conference was cancelled and our launch postponed, but more surprisingly the demand for our service stalled. So we did what any group of creative entrepreneurs would do, we started ideating.
If you’re familiar with the chaotic nature of pivoting a startup, we were no different. Since NFC passes had lost their lure, we ventured pretty far from that scope. We first tried building a platform for digital nannies (StayHomePlayDate.com) and even went as far as making face masks (Protectivos.com). As weeks passed and loans were taken out, we started to recognize some opportunities where passes could still play a role.
One of these opportunities centered around supermarkets and other essential businesses that were still operating while the pandemic spread. Long lines were frequently forming outside these establishments, forcing customers to wait for as long as an hour just to purchase a few items items. So we built FastPass to let customers skip the line, like at Disney theme parks.
FastPass is a simple scheduling service that helps businesses reopen in the face of COVID-19. Social distancing rules around the world have resulted in a precipitous drop in foot traffic thus making it difficult for brick and mortar businesses to operate profitably. FastPass addresses this problem by issuing Apple and Google passes to customers so physical commerce can proceed in a timely way. Businesses can check passes visually or scan them with a barcode or NFC reader to keep an accurate count of patrons coming inside. Automated reminders and welcome notifications help customers along their journey while following established protocols.
Our team was able to build the FastPass solution with a ton of functionality in about a week but we keep adding new features daily. It’s a true testament to the power of the Apple and Google Wallet platforms and so we are offering it for free. Not just free to use by businesses that need it, but free to copy and reuse as well. You can check out the full system source here. The frontend was built with Webflow and TypeForm and the backend with NodeJs, Redis, and Serverless.
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s one more thing. We are going to be teaching how we built everything step by step for those willing to follow along. We will start at the top and slowly peel back layers of working code, covering precious details that took us hours — if not days — to figure out. Although we are targeting programmers, any spirited maker will be able to follow along. If we’re successful, by the end you’ll be able to build your own PassNinja solution or manage a few programmers to get it done. So stay tuned for the next issue of our FastPass series coming out soon!
