Hawkin Dynamics levels up their product in 2 weeks instead of months
Introduction
Hawkin Dynamics offers research-grade biomechanical data to help
sports teams improve their athletes' performances. Their
Internet-connected force plates collect athletes' data, which is
then analyzed and made accessible in mobile and web apps in real
time. The company serves customers in the NHL, NCAA, EPL and
other leagues.
Challenge
Measuring an athlete's motions and providing real-time analytics
is complex. For example, with a simple vertical jump, Hawkin
Dynamics' force plates must capture 10,000+ data points within
seconds, then analyze that data in the cloud and deliver the
analytics instantly to coaches.
They originally built their back end using Firebase Realtime
Database and Amazon Web Services (AWS), with Android and Node.js
to deliver their analytics. This required months of effort:
stitching components together and building a data layer for their
web app. Ultimately, they envision providing a full-blown
analytics service to coaches, which will require months or
years of development.
Solution
Using Cloud Firestore, Hawkin Dynamics was able to optimize
their back end for intensive data calculations and
transmission. Using only one developer, the team migrated
from Firebase Realtime Database to Cloud Firestore in a few
days, simply by removing their legacy web data layer (which
they no longer needed because of Cloud Firestore) and
replacing their existing Node functions with Cloud Functions.
Before Cloud Firestore, the team planned to hire a back-end
developer so they could focus on building new features. After
using Cloud Firestore, however, they no longer needed that new
hire (for now), reducing their hiring costs by over 50%. They
also were able to release new web and Android apps within two
weeks. The two new apps included many features they had
originally planned to ship months later. With Firebase, the
team made a huge leap toward realizing their vision of their
product.
Results
2 weeks to elevate product to a new level
50% lower development costs
2500 fewer lines of code to maintain
"With Firebase Realtime Database, we felt we had built the best force-plate testing software on the market. Thanks to Cloud Firestore, in only two weeks, we built a system that's significantly better and includes features we never thought possible to ship on Day 1."
- Chris Wales, CTO, Hawkin Dynamics
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[],[],null,["# Hawkin Dynamics Case Study\n\n[*arrow_back*\nExplore other case studies](/case-studies) \n[View more solutions](/solutions) \n\n##### Hawkin Dynamics levels up their product in 2 weeks instead of months\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\n##### Introduction\n\nHawkin Dynamics offers research-grade biomechanical data to help\nsports teams improve their athletes' performances. Their\nInternet-connected force plates collect athletes' data, which is\nthen analyzed and made accessible in mobile and web apps in real\ntime. The company serves customers in the NHL, NCAA, EPL and\nother leagues.\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\n##### Challenge\n\nMeasuring an athlete's motions and providing real-time analytics\nis complex. For example, with a simple vertical jump, Hawkin\nDynamics' force plates must capture 10,000+ data points within\nseconds, then analyze that data in the cloud and deliver the\nanalytics instantly to coaches.\n\nThey originally built their back end using Firebase Realtime\nDatabase and Amazon Web Services (AWS), with Android and Node.js\nto deliver their analytics. This required months of effort:\nstitching components together and building a data layer for their\nweb app. Ultimately, they envision providing a full-blown\nanalytics service to coaches, which will require months or\nyears of development. \n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\n##### Solution\n\nUsing Cloud Firestore, Hawkin Dynamics was able to optimize\ntheir back end for intensive data calculations and\ntransmission. Using only one developer, the team migrated\nfrom Firebase Realtime Database to Cloud Firestore in a few\ndays, simply by removing their legacy web data layer (which\nthey no longer needed because of Cloud Firestore) and\nreplacing their existing Node functions with Cloud Functions. \nBefore Cloud Firestore, the team planned to hire a back-end\ndeveloper so they could focus on building new features. After\nusing Cloud Firestore, however, they no longer needed that new\nhire (for now), reducing their hiring costs by over 50%. They\nalso were able to release new web and Android apps within two\nweeks. The two new apps included many features they had\noriginally planned to ship months later. With Firebase, the\nteam made a huge leap toward realizing their vision of their\nproduct.\n\n*** ** * ** ***\n\nResults\n\n2 weeks to elevate product to a new level\n\n50% lower development costs\n\n2500 fewer lines of code to maintain \n\n\"With Firebase Realtime Database, we felt we had built the best force-plate testing software on the market. Thanks to Cloud Firestore, in only two weeks, we built a system that's significantly better and includes features we never thought possible to ship on Day 1.\"\n\n\n- Chris Wales, CTO, Hawkin Dynamics \nTry Firebase today\n\n\nIntegrating it into your app is easy.\n[Get started](https://console.firebase.google.com/) \n\n#### All Firebase products\n\n##### Build\n\n- [App Check](/products/app-check)\n- [App Hosting](/products/app-hosting)\n- [Authentication](/products/auth)\n- [Cloud Functions](/products/functions)\n- [Cloud Storage](/products/storage)\n- [Data Connect](/products/data-connect)\n- [Extensions](/products/extensions)\n- [Firestore](/products/firestore)\n- [Firebase ML](/products/ml)\n- [Genkit](https://genkit.dev/)\n- [Hosting](/products/hosting)\n- [Realtime Database](/products/realtime-database)\n- [Firebase AI Logic client SDKs](/products/firebase-ai-logic)\n\n[Generative AI](/products/generative-ai) \n\n##### Run\n\n- [A/B Testing](/products/ab-testing)\n- [App Distribution](/products/app-distribution)\n- [Cloud Messaging](/products/cloud-messaging)\n- [Crashlytics](/products/crashlytics)\n- [Google Analytics](/products/analytics)\n- [In-App Messaging](/products/in-app-messaging)\n- [Performance Monitoring](/products/performance)\n- [Remote Config](/products/remote-config)\n- [Test Lab](/products/test-lab)"]]
