Case Study

Restaurant Technology, POS & Payment Processing Solutions Engagement

Client: Up ‘n go
Industry: Restaurant Technology, POS & Payment Processing Solutions
Engagement Duration: Multi-year, ongoing partnership

Restaurant Technology

POS

Payment Processing

overview

Background + Objectives

Up ‘n go is all about making dining out easier and more enjoyable with their “pay at the table” solution, which allows customers to settle their bill quickly and get on their way—helping restaurants speed up table turnover and provide a modern experience. While their product is consumer-focused, behind the scenes, Up ‘n go has developed a powerful platform that integrates with various Point-of-Sale (POS) systems and payment processors.

Over the years, Up ‘n go has collaborated with Art+Logic on several of their projects.

Here’s how we worked with Up ‘n go

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POS Integrations

We kicked things off by integrating with Micros 3700, a widely used but somewhat dated POS system. As the relationship grew, we added support for Oracle Simphony Generation 1 and Generation 2, which are more modern, cloud-based systems.

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Payment Processor Integrations

We worked with Up ‘n go to streamline payments by integrating FreedomPay, and contributed improvements to other payment systems Up ‘n go was already using. Our collaboration made it easier for restaurants to process payments smoothly, no matter which system they preferred.



Testing Infrastructure Overhaul

With real-time transactions on the line, making sure the platform worked flawlessly was crucial. We revamped Up ‘n go’s testing framework, speeding up development, improving reliability, and ensuring that as new features came in, the system stayed stable and secure.

challenges

Challenges

Handling Complex POS Systems: Restaurant tech can be tricky, especially when it involves legacy systems like Micros 3700. Each POS had its quirks, and Up ‘n go’s challenge was to create a unified experience for their clients, regardless of which system they were using.

Diverse Payment Processors: Each payment processor Up ‘n go worked with had its own unique requirements which, nevertheless, had to integrate into a single, smooth experience. Up ‘n go had to normalize these differences and make everything work seamlessly from the diner’s perspective. The process had to be easy, intuitive, and reliable for every customer.

Balancing Innovation with Stability: As Up ‘n go grew, they needed to keep their platform nimble enough to support new features while ensuring it stayed reliable and scalable. This meant refactoring and rethinking parts of the architecture, helping their platform adapt as new challenges emerged.

Ensuring Data Integrity with Improved Testing: With so many transactions flowing through the system, the platform needed to be secure and consistent. We helped improve the testing setup, making it faster and more reliable to catch issues before they could affect Up ‘n go’s clients—or their customers.

solution

Solution

Scalable and Future-Ready Architecture

Up ‘n go’s platform had to be modular so it could easily adapt to new POS systems and features as their business grew and it could grow smoothly down the road.

Solving Legacy POS Challenges

For older systems like Micros 3700, Up ‘n go needed to create a secure, PCI-compliant connection that bridged the gap between their modern cloud-based services and the legacy systems on the restaurant floor. This ensured that restaurants using older tech could still provide a modern, seamless experience for their diners.

Unified Payment Processing

We collaborated with Up ‘n go to create an abstraction layer to manage the differences between various payment processors. This allowed Up ‘n go to integrate new processors quickly, all while ensuring a consistent experience for their clients and their customers.

Revamping the Testing Framework

Knowing how critical transaction integrity was, we worked with them to overhaul the testing infrastructure. This made debugging faster, improved test coverage, and allowed Up ‘n go to confidently roll out new features without fear of breaking core functionality. They have a solid foundation that ensures everything works as expected.

approach

Our Approach to Vetting Candidates

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Collaborating with Up 'n go's Recruiting Firm

The recruiting firm presented Up ‘n go with a selection of candidates. Once Up ‘n go identified a few they were interested in, they asked us to vet those candidates more deeply.

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Customized Art+Logic Programming Challenge (ALPC)

We sent a tailored version of our Art+Logic Programming Challenge (ALPC) to the candidates. This challenge is an important part of our own hiring process and allows us to see how developers solve real-world problems. For Up ‘n go, we customized the challenge to fit their needs and clearly communicated that we were vetting candidates on their behalf.

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Peer-Reviewed Evaluation

After the candidates completed the challenge, we applied our peer-review process. At Art+Logic, peer reviews are key—our developers take turns evaluating candidates to ensure that anyone coming on board is someone they’d be happy to work with. This approach helped Up ‘n go get an unbiased, in-depth evaluation of each candidate’s technical capabilities.

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Interviews and Recommendations

For the candidates who passed the challenge and continued to spark Up ‘n go’s interest, we conducted interviews. After each interview, we provided clear recommendations—thumbs up or down—along with detailed reasons for our recommendations. This gave Up ‘n go the information they needed to confidently move forward with the hiring process.

We understand how challenging it can be to find developers who are not only technically skilled but also a great fit for a company’s culture. To help Up ‘n go make confident hiring decisions, we took them through the following process:

refresh

New Website and Branding

In mid-2020 we began working together on a corporate rebranding effort, accompanied by a new website. This effort began with a brainstorming phase involving mood boards, color palettes, and extensive requirements gathering, and eventually stretched to a complete site redesign and implementation, ADA compliance and testing services, and copywriting services.

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