Industry

Healthcare

Tech Stack

PHP, React

Years

2024

Links

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Overview

Curawork is Germany's largest social network for caregivers, providing a dedicated platform for nursing professionals to connect and grow.

To modernize a legacy PHP and JavaScript application, we partnered with Curawork to deliver a new social engagement feature called "Moments", a feed where care workers share emotional, funny, or meaningful stories from their daily work, as the platform's first React-based module.

This project not only introduced a highly interactive feed experience for users, but also laid the architectural groundwork for Curawork's long-term front-end migration strategy. Built in isolation and integrated seamlessly into a Blade/JS environment, Moments proved that new features can drive both product value and tech evolution.

The Vision

While the immediate goal was to deliver a new user-facing feature, the broader vision was to begin modernizing a legacy tech stack with React, incrementally, and without disrupting platform stability.

Moments served as the test case: a self-contained React app designed to handle real-time interactions, integrate cleanly with existing infrastructure, and validate a new architectural approach for future development.

By proving the viability of React within a complex legacy environment, this project helped set a new standard for how Curawork will build going forward.

Market Context

The launch of Curawork came at a critical time in the healthcare sector. Germany faces a well-documented shortage of nursing staff and high burnout rates, making retention and peer support more important than ever.

Historically, caregivers lacked a dedicated online network tailored to their needs – they had to rely on generic social media or offline connections. Curawork fills this gap as the first career-oriented social network exclusively for caregivers, bringing together a once-fragmented community.

On Curawork's platform, caregivers can expand their professional network, share knowledge, and engage in meaningful discussions within a niche community.

In this context, building an engaging community feature like Moments was a strategic move – it differentiates Curawork as not just a job platform, but a true social hub for caregivers. By encouraging users to share personal stories and interact daily, Curawork strengthens loyalty and keeps its growing user base active on the platform.

The Challenge

Delivering the Moments feature meant navigating a mix of product goals and technical constraints. While the functionality needed to feel modern and seamless to users, it also had to coexist with a legacy PHP/JavaScript stack without disrupting the stability of the broader platform.

Key challenges included:

• Legacy Code Integration

  • Curawork's web platform was built with PHP Blade templates and traditional JavaScript.

  • The challenge was to introduce a modern React-based feature into this legacy tech stack without disrupting existing functionality.

• Cross-Layer Interoperability

  • The new Moments feed needed to communicate seamlessly with Curawork's existing backend and frontend.

  • From authentication to data updates (posts, votes, comments), the React component had to work in harmony with the old system.

• Pixel-Perfect Design Implementation

  • The Moments feature was based on detailed designs provided by the client, requiring precise UI execution.

  • Matching the design 1:1 within a new tech stack and old styling constraints demanded close attention to detail.

• Performance Within a Mixed Stack

  • Embedding a dynamic React feed into a legacy environment introduced complexity around loading, responsiveness, and client-side rendering.

  • Maintaining fast performance was essential to avoid degrading the user experience.

The Solution

To meet both the product and technical goals, we designed a solution that balanced forward-looking architecture with deep respect for the existing system.

By building Moments as a self-contained React module and carefully bridging it with legacy infrastructure, we delivered a modern, performant feature while setting the stage for broader front-end modernization.

• Embedded React Micro-App

  • We developed the Moments feature as an isolated React application embedded within Curawork's existing Blade template.

  • This approach created a self-contained “micro-frontend” for the feed, allowing the new feature to run independently within the legacy site.

• API & Event Bridging

  • The team established clear API endpoints and in-app event hooks to connect the React component with Curawork's PHP backend and existing JavaScript.

  • This bridge ensured seamless data flow – when a user posted a new moment or cast a vote, the action was securely handled by the backend and immediately reflected in the UI, without full page reloads.

• Optimized Performance

  • To keep the experience snappy, we implemented performance optimizations like code-splitting and lazy loading for the Moments feed. Only the necessary React bundle loads when a user accesses the feature, minimizing impact on overall app load time.

  • We also fine-tuned state management and rendering so that upvotes/downvotes would update instantly/optimistically. Extensive testing was done to guarantee that adding the live feed did not degrade Curawork's stability or speed.

• Collaborative Design Implementation

  • Throughout development, we worked closely with Curawork's product team to align on the feature's behavior and look-and-feel. The engineering team provided feedback on the provided design, suggesting UI adjustments where needed to fit technical constraints (for example, ensuring the layout would work on older devices and within the existing CSS framework).

  • This collaboration ensured the Moments UI remained faithful to the original vision while operating smoothly in the real app environment.

The Result

The Moments feature delivered immediate product impact while validating a long-term technical strategy. It successfully engaged users, met design expectations, and proved that React could be introduced incrementally within a legacy stack without disrupting platform stability.

• Seamless Launch

  • The Moments feature was delivered on schedule and integrated into the Curawork app with zero downtime.

  • Despite being built with a new technology, it rolled out to users smoothly – most didn't even realize a major behind-the-scenes tech shift had occurred, which attests to the seamless integration

• Rapid User Adoption & Enhanced Engagement

  • Curawork's community enthusiastically embraced the Moments feature. Within days of launch, caregivers began sharing dozens of candid stories and insights.

  • Posts garnered high engagement, with large numbers of upvotes and comments, and the inaugural “Moment of the Month” voting attracted robust participation.

  • The introduction of Moments drove a notable increase in overall in-app activity. Users started logging in more frequently to check new Moments or see how their posts were faring in votes.

• Technical Breakthrough

  • Successfully implementing a React application within Curawork's legacy environment was a significant technical win.

  • It proved that modern frameworks can coexist with older architecture in a stable way.

  • This project established a reusable framework and tooling for future React development at Curawork (e.g. build processes, routing, state management patterns), effectively laying the groundwork for a long-term transition to React across the platform.

  • The client's development team gained a blueprint for how to gradually modernize other parts of the app with confidence.

• Client & User Satisfaction

  • Curawork's stakeholders were very satisfied with the outcome – the feature met their engagement goals and did so with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

  • For end-users, Moments added tangible value; caregivers now have a fun and meaningful outlet within the app to share their day-to-day highs and lows.

  • Moreover, by reinforcing Curawork's core mission of connecting and celebrating caregivers, the Moments feature helped solidify Curawork's position as the go-to digital hub for Germany's care professionals.

Conclusion

The Curawork Moments case study highlights how Danubio enabled a forward-thinking client to innovate quickly, even on a legacy codebase.

By engineering a modern social-feed feature within Curawork's existing platform, Danubio helped the company engage its users in new ways without a costly system overhaul.

The project not only delighted Curawork's community but also kick-started Curawork's evolution toward a more modern front-end.

In the end, Danubio's blend of technical expertise and close collaboration ensured Curawork's vision became a reality – turning an ambitious idea into a scalable, impactful feature that will serve as a foundation for future innovation on the platform.

As a result, Curawork has continued to engage Danubio for ongoing development — extending our collaboration across multiple new features and improvements as the platform continues to grow and modernize. It's a testament to the value of pairing reliable engineering with thoughtful, forward-compatible execution.

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