Xplor Platform

One platform. Two deployments. A Cornish coastal town and a National Trust World Heritage Site.

IndustryTourism & Heritage

Team3 Members

Started In2022

ClientData Duopoly

CountryUnited Kingdom

Opportunity

DataDuopoly Ltd had already built the foundation of their Xplor Platform — a reusable location intelligence engine designed to give any organisation a custom map-driven experience for their visitors. We came on board to take ownership of the platform, lead its engineering, and deploy it across two distinct real-world products: XplorFALMOUTH, connecting visitors with Falmouth's local businesses, trails, and events; and XplorTINCOAST, commissioned by the Tin Coast Partnership and the National Trust across three World Heritage tin mining sites in West Cornwall, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. We directed a cross-functional team of three engineers, owning all native mobile development, cloud infrastructure, and new feature delivery across both deployments.

Opportunity

DataDuopoly had a repeatable vision: town councils, heritage trusts, and tourist attractions all needed rich location experiences for their visitors but lacked the engineering capacity to build them. Falmouth was the commercial pilot. TinCoast was the landmark commission — covering Geevor Tin Mine, Levant Mine and Beam Engine, and Botallack Mine across a seven-mile stretch of coastline, at a time when nearly three million tourists were expected to visit Cornwall that summer. When we joined, the platform needed experienced engineering leadership to scale it, ship it, and extend it with new capabilities.

Approach

We took ownership of the full stack — web, Android, and iOS — and led all delivery across both deployments. The existing backend ran on ASP.NET Core 3.1 with an Angular (TypeScript) SPA. We maintained and extended the API, using NSwag to keep frontend and backend contracts in sync. Real-time features ran over SignalR backed by Redis, and NetTopologySuite powered all geospatial logic. We managed all AWS infrastructure — S3 for media, SSM for configuration — and built and maintained the CI/CD pipelines from the ground up. All code reviews across the team ran through us. For mobile, we developed fully native on both platforms — iOS using UIKit and Storyboards, and native Xamarin.Android with Google Maps. Firebase handled push notifications across both platforms. One of the most significant features we delivered on top of the platform was Kevrenna for XplorTINCOAST — a gamified 40-minute trail built in partnership with local theatre company Cousin Jack's. Using GPS triggers, visitors unlocked short micro-films performed by local actors at specific points along the trail between Geevor and Levant. Families collected golden bezzants by answering questions and taking nature photos — a full reward and progression system we built natively on both iOS and Android. We also developed a footfall prediction algorithm — a custom ML model added on top of the platform to forecast weekly visitor numbers, giving the National Trust and Tin Coast Partnership actionable data for capacity planning, staffing, and sustainable tourism management.

Solution

Web Platform — Extended and maintained the existing ASP.NET Core 3.1 + Angular (TypeScript) codebase. Versioned REST API via NSwag, real-time updates via SignalR + Redis, geospatial queries via NetTopologySuite, organisation dashboard for map content, businesses, events, and footfall analytics. Deployed and managed on AWS. Native iOS — Built from the ground up on top of the platform. UIKit + Storyboards. Interactive maps with custom overlays, GPS-triggered video content, Kevrenna trail with directional arrows and progression, QR offer redemption, Firebase push notifications. Native Android — Xamarin.Android, Google Maps SDK, full Kevrenna trail implementation including video fragments and bezzant reward system, QR scanning via ZXing, Firebase FCM, multi-ABI support. Footfall Prediction Algorithm — A new capability we developed on top of the platform. A custom ML model forecasting weekly visitor numbers, turning raw footfall data into actionable business intelligence for venue and destination managers. CI/CD & Cloud — We designed and maintained fully automated deployment pipelines, AWS S3 + SSM infrastructure, and AppCenter crash reporting and analytics across both mobile platforms.

Impact

XplorFALMOUTH proved the platform commercially. XplorTINCOAST brought it to national attention — press coverage across Falmouth University, Cornwall Growth Hub, BBC Careers, PhocusWire, and Business Cornwall. The Kevrenna trail became a standout cultural product, giving families a genuinely unique gamified heritage experience backed by professional theatrical content. The footfall algorithm extended the platform's value proposition from visitor engagement into business intelligence. DataDuopoly was a startup that ultimately didn't survive to its next stage — but both products shipped, served real users in the real world, and demonstrated what an experienced engineering team can do when given an existing foundation and the space to extend it.

Deployment

Both apps were distributed via the App Store and Google Play. XplorTINCOAST visitors were prompted to download at ticket purchase and via QR code signage along the Tin Coast. AppCenter handled post-launch crash reporting and analytics. The web dashboard and API ran on AWS with fully automated CI/CD pipelines we built and maintained.