Ionic smart event access app development for CulturalPass

Ionic
Vue
PHP Laravel

Cultural Pass is a community initiative providing free summer access to over 140 cultural venues across Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana since 2014. To modernize and expand its reach, Cultural Pass partnered with ProCoders to develop a user-friendly, cross-platform mobile app that replaces traditional paper-based processes.

CulturalPass app
Cultural Pass Business Challenge

Since 2014, the Cultural Pass program has enriched the lives of thousands of families by granting young people (ages 0–21) free summer admission to art, science, and heritage venues across Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana.

Traditionally, participants had to physically collect paper passports from libraries and manually track event stamps, schedules, and attendance. This process limited accessibility and placed a significant burden on both participants and organizers.

To amplify the program’s impact, Cultural Pass needed to digitize the entire experience, delivering a frictionless, scalable mobile solution capable of:

CulturalPass App login
  • Allowing remote registration with instant digital pass delivery
  • Simplifying event discovery through personalized age-based recommendations, proximity-based filters, date, and category
  • Replacing paper stamps with digital check-ins via QR codes
  • Providing real-time event updates and notifications
  • Accurately tracking attendance for precise impact reporting to funders

Assembling Development Team

Recognizing the critical importance of summer, the sole operational season for Cultural Pass, ProCoders faced clear deadlines to deliver the mobile platform in time.

The client approached ProCoders with completed designs for both the user interface and administrative backend, seeking a reliable, user-centric solution within a reasonable budget.

To meet these ambitious objectives efficiently, ProCoders swiftly assembled a dedicated team comprising:

Full Stack Tech Lead

Back-end Developer

Front‑end Developer

QA Engineer
Development Approach
CulturalPass login
Choosing the Right Technology

ProCoders utilized the fully prepared client designs to rapidly assess and estimate the scope.

Given the project requirements, a cross-platform approach was the logical solution. Ionic was chosen for its excellent capability to seamlessly integrate native device functionalities, such as push notifications, significantly enhancing the user experience. Additionally, Vue.js provided efficient front-end responsiveness, while Laravel and PostgreSQL offered robust backend stability and scalable data management.

The inclusion of Mapbox further ensured intuitive, accurate navigation and event location functionality.

User Roles and Administration
CulturalPass admin panel

To accommodate diverse user needs, three distinct roles were defined:

  • General Users: Participants who explore events, manage family profiles, and utilize digital passes
  • Partners: Venue staff who scan QR codes for seamless event check-ins
  • Administrators: Partners’ area to submit new events for approval
  • Super Administrator: Manage comprehensive oversight, including event approval, publishing user-submitted events, content publication, and detailed usage analytics
Core App Functionality

The application delivered multiple intuitive features, enhancing user engagement and ease-of-use:

CulturalPass map
  • Detailed event listings with category-based filtering and search functionality
  • Family-based account management, with flexible profiles for adults, children, and caregivers
  • Digital QR passes for seamless venue entry and attendance tracking
  • Real-time notifications for event changes and reminders

Additionally, a special Senior Pass program was included, offering tailored event options for older community members, thereby broadening community inclusion.

Key Outcomes
CulturalPass Events

Upon its timely launch, Cultural Pass achieved significant milestones:

 

  • Over 19,500 registered family accounts
  • More than 45,000 total participants
  • Access to 140 cultural events
  • Over 60 active venue partners
Closing Remarks

By transitioning a cherished community program from manual processes to an intuitive mobile platform, ProCoders empowered Cultural Pass to substantially broaden its reach and efficiency.

Participants now enjoy an effortless, accessible cultural experience, while organizers leverage precise, real-time data to showcase community impact, solidifying Cultural Pass’s continued growth and sustainability.

Oleg cta
Elevate your programs with innovative digital solutions!

Contact ProCoders today, and let’s create the next success story together

Successfully Sent!