How We Audited and Rebuilt a Networking Platform for BoardsOnline
The previous team reported the platform as done. In the product, some features worked, some worked halfway and some did not open. The founder could not tell which. Our engineers checked every feature on the live product. They marked what works, what is unfinished and what is missing. Then they split the plan into what the platform needs and what can wait. We rebuilt by that list. In 6 months the platform was tested and live.
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Not Sure Your Product Works the Way You Agreed?
If you doubt your product works the way you agreed with your developers, and cannot check it yourself, our engineers will. They go feature by feature and show what works, what is unfinished and what is missing.
Where the Problem Was Hiding
What the founder was dealing with before the audit.
Done in the Report, Broken in the Product
Features marked complete did not run when the founder opened them.
Documentation for a Different Product
The written description did not match the working app. There was nothing to check an estimate against.
No Map of What Was Worth Keeping
Without a code review, the choice was patching blind or paying for a rewrite.
An Interface That Needed More Than Fixes
The interface did not match the platform the founder had in mind and needed a new design.
The Challenge
The founder paid a team for the first version, and its reports marked the features complete. When he opened the product himself, some features worked, some half worked and some did not run. The documentation described a different product. Any quote for the next step, from fixes to a full rewrite, had nothing to be checked against.
On paper the platform was done, in the product part of it did not work, and the founder had no way to check which part.
Our Solution
The audit was a small paid job with a fixed scope. Our engineers ran every documented feature on the live product. Each one got a mark: working, partly working, or reported done but broken. They added what the platform was missing. Then they split the list into what it needs to work and what is a wish. The founder checked every line himself and could take the list to any team. We rebuilt by that list. We kept the Laravel backend and refactored it. We rebuilt the Angular frontend for a new design and built Stripe membership billing from scratch. Acceptance criteria for each stage were agreed before it started. When a stage closed, its code went to the founder's repository.
First our engineers checked every feature, then fixed them in order of importance.
How a Software Audit Solves It
Each card answers one problem above.
Every Feature Checked on the Live Product
Our engineers ran each documented feature in the working app. The founder got one line per feature: works, partly works, or broken.
A Plan of Needs Versus Wishes
We added what the product was missing and marked what the platform needs to work and what can wait. We set the price and order of the rebuild from this list.
Keep What Works, Replace What Fails
We kept the Laravel backend and refactored it. We rebuilt the Angular frontend for a new design and built membership billing from scratch.
Every Milestone Ends in His Repository
The founder agreed acceptance criteria before each stage. When a stage closed, its code went to his repository, so he checked progress himself.
What the Board Member Portal Does Now
What members, employers and the founder can do on the platform.
A Profile With Experience and Documents
Members add work experience, certifications and documents. An employer sees them when the member applies for a role.
Connections, a Feed and Messages With Files
Members connect, post, comment and share in a feed. They also message each other one to one, with files attached.
Labor Rules by Country Before Taking a Role
Labor codes for every country on the platform. A member checks a market's rules before taking a job there.
Paid Job Postings a Moderator Approves
Employers pay to post a role and review applicants' profiles and documents on the platform. Members search, filter, save searches, apply and get alerts when a matching role appears.
Membership With a Trial, Billed Through Stripe
Membership website development from scratch: plans, a trial and access by plan.
The Founder Removes Posts Himself
Moderation sits in the admin panel. The founder reviews posts and removes prohibited content without asking a developer.
What Runs on Its Own
What the platform does without the founder.
Access Follows the Plan
After the trial, access to the network, jobs and content follows the member's plan.
Job Alerts Go Out by Themselves
A new role that matches a saved search sends the member an alert by itself.
Posting Fees Are Charged at Posting
An employer pays through Stripe when posting a role, and the role waits for moderation.
Posts Reach Connections' Feeds
A member's post, comment or share appears in the feeds of their connections.
Results
What the founder got from the audit and the rebuild.
For Every Feature Reported as Done
Set the Scope, Order and Price Before Rebuild Code
From the Audit to a Tested, Live Platform
Of Support After the Contract Ended
The Stack Behind the Professional Networking Site
Angular.webp?v=2026-09-29T09%3A19%3A00.918Z)
PHP (Laravel)
MySQL
Stripe
TypeScript
REST APIs
DockerWhen I use it, it works, I think, the way it should... I find that very comforting.
Thomas Lehmann Heintzelmann
CEO
Audit First, Rebuild Second
Step 1 - The Audit
Step 2 - Backend Refactor
Step 3 - Networking Layer
Step 4 - Country Labor Codes
Step 5 - Job Flow
Step 6 - Membership and Billing
Step 7 - Moderation Tools
Step 8 - Handover and Ongoing Support
Where a Software Audit Pays Off by Industry
A founder often pays for a platform before an independent engineer opens its code. We see it in hiring and HR, legal tech, sales and marketing tools and healthcare staffing.
HR & Recruitment
Hiring platforms, professional networks and staffing marketplaces where matching runs on structured data.
LegalTech
Document-heavy products where a reference has to be exactly right, and an approximately correct citation is a wrong one.
Sales & Marketing Technology
Prospecting and outreach platforms where automation has to look human enough that the platform it runs on does not object.
Healthcare & Staffing
Marketplaces and workflow tools for care organizations, where the mechanism in the middle decides whether the market is fair.
Solutions Built Into BoardsOnline
The board member portal runs on two Hygge solutions. In the marketplace, members and employers meet. In the portal, each keeps a profile, documents and activity.
Marketplace Development
Members and employers on one platform. A member finds a role and applies, an employer posts it and reviews applicants.
- 3 verdictsFor every feature a status report called done
- 6 monthsFrom the audit to a stable platform
- 3 rolesMember, employer and administrator in one product
Customer & Partner Portal Development
Each member gets their own space: profile, experience, documents, followers and job activity.
- 1+ yearOf support after the original contract
- Own repoCode in the founder's repository at every milestone
- Per memberProfile, documents and activity in one place
More Products Hygge Has Shipped
Other founders who needed a working product they could check themselves.
PlayFusionLabs CRM
Custom CRM development for a game studio. An agent researches companies, Today lists who to ping, and finance sits in one database.
- ~2 monthsFrom first call to daily use
- 150+Releases since launch
- 1 databaseFor sales, projects and finance
- $0In per-seat licences
Country Navigator
A ten-year-old cultural intelligence training platform rebuilt into services. Enterprise customers kept working through a zero downtime migration.
- 0Downtime moving a ten-year-old platform
- 1 configReplaces the SSO setup only one person knew
- 10 yearsOf monolith rebuilt into services
NOODLZ
Live auction software for an Irish agency network. Auctions moved off phone calls into one platform with verified bidders and a document vault.
- 1 platformReplaces auctions run outside any system
- 1 vaultReplaces contracts moving between inboxes
- 2+ yearsOf continuous delivery since 2024
IntellicAIr
A nurse staffing marketplace built around a sealed bidding engine written from scratch. Bids stay hidden until the round closes.
- 1 roundFor a post that waits 78 days to fill
- No nameOn a bid that used to hide a 40 % cut
- 1 inviteBrings a facility's own agencies onboard
Smarter Humans
A spaced repetition app built by the same team since 2019. About a million users moved to the rebuilt system with zero downtime.
- 93 %Cut off a 20-second document load
- 1 uploadReplaces the card writing people quit over
- 7 yearsOn one product with the same team
CreAItivity
Creative agency software that runs a UK agency's ideation method without a facilitator, now in its third year.
- 36 widgetsCarry a method that needed a facilitator
- 20+ yearsOf agency practice turned into software
- 3rd yearOn the architecture chosen at the start
Software Audit: Questions Buyers Ask
My last team says the product is finished. How do I find out what works?
The vendor says it was never in the requirements, so who is right?
Do code review services always end in a full rewrite?
If I buy the audit, do I have to hire you for the rebuild?
Who owns the code, and can I change it myself later?
How long does it take from the audit to a working platform?
Let's Build Something That Matters
We're your one-stop Digital Engineering Partner. Tell us the process, product, or data problem you're trying to solve, and Hygge scopes AI and software work around the business result you need.
Tell Us What You're Building
Share the product, process, or data problem behind the request, along with the systems, data, or timeline the build has to work around.
Get an Audit-Backed Consultation
Hygge reviews the systems and data behind the request, so the first call opens with real specifics on the table.
Receive a Scoped Proposal
A plan with the approach, team, timeline, and cost, built around the business result the project needs to hit.