InterAction+ for Gmail
Senior design project with LexisNexis to extend their Outlook extension toolkit InterAction+ into Google Workspace. Image from posters and pies event, NCSU.
Overview
InterAction+ for Gmail
We teamed up with LexisNexis to design and build a Gmail add-on based on InterAction+, their Outlook CRM extension for legal professionals.
My role
My role
Design, project staging, and implementation. I worked on the high-level designs in Balsamiq, staged the project for effective team collaboration, and wrote much of the code in Google Apps Script.
Design
The design
We mapped every screen and flow in Balsamiq before we touched code, starting with authentication, how a user securely connects the add-on to their InterAction+ account from inside Gmail.
Architecture
System architecture
The add-on had to bridge Gmail, Google Apps Script, and the InterAction+ backend. This diagram lays out how those pieces talk to each other and where data moves between them.
Staging
Project staging
To keep a student team building in parallel cleanly and efficiently, I wired the project and prepared us for system testing. We used Jest for unit testing.
Implementation
Google Apps Script
We built the add-on in Google Apps Script, Google's platform for extending Workspace. Here it's open to a contact's sender details, surfacing their InterAction+ relationship data right beside the email.
Reflection
My experience
This project taught me how careful design and disciplined planning matter when a team is shipping against an unfamiliar platform on a deadline, and it was a fun exercise on overcoming (framework) limitations.