Ocean Aero - React SSR

Ocean Aero is an award-winning US company that has pioneered the world’s first and only environmentally powered Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV). Their innovative technology allows for sustainable exploration and data collection in marine environments, pushing the boundaries of autonomous systems. I had the privilege of contributing to their digital presence by developing a modern, performant, and user-friendly website using React with Server-Side Rendering (SSR).

Project Overview

The goal of the Ocean Aero website was to create a sleek, professional platform to showcase their groundbreaking AUSV technology. The site needed to balance rich visuals, technical information, and seamless performance across devices. To achieve this, I leveraged a modern tech stack centered around React with After.js for SSR, ensuring fast load times and SEO optimization. The site is hosted on Firebase, with Material UI for a polished, consistent design and Figma for collaborative design prototyping.

Visit the live site: Ocean Aero

Key Features

1. React Server-Side Rendering with After.js

• Implemented After.js, a Next.js-inspired framework, to enable server-side rendering for improved performance and SEO.
• Ensured fast initial page loads and smooth client-side navigation, providing a seamless user experience.
• Optimized rendering pipelines to handle dynamic content, such as product specifications and company updates.

2. Material UI for Consistent Design

• Utilized Material UI to create a responsive and visually appealing interface that aligns with Ocean Aero’s brand identity.
• Customized components to match the design system, ensuring consistency across buttons, typography, and layouts.
• Enabled accessibility (a11y) features, such as keyboard navigation and screen reader compatibility.

3. Figma for Design Collaboration

• Worked closely with designers using Figma to translate high-fidelity mockups into pixel-perfect UI components.
• Streamlined the design-to-development workflow by integrating Figma’s design tokens and assets into the codebase.
• Iterated on feedback to refine the user experience, ensuring the site was both functional and visually engaging.

4. Firebase for Hosting and Scalability

• Deployed the website on Firebase Hosting for reliable, scalable, and secure hosting.
• Integrated Firebase’s CDN to deliver assets efficiently, reducing latency for global users.
• Configured Firebase for seamless CI/CD pipelines, enabling rapid updates and deployments.

5. Responsive and Performant UI

• Built a fully responsive design to ensure the site looks great on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.
• Optimized images and assets to reduce load times, leveraging lazy loading and modern image formats.
• Implemented best practices for performance, such as code-splitting and tree-shaking, to minimize bundle sizes.

Challenges and Solutions

One of the main challenges was balancing the need for rich, interactive content with performance and SEO requirements. By using After.js, I was able to implement SSR to pre-render pages on the server, ensuring search engines could index content effectively while maintaining a dynamic, React-based frontend. Additionally, integrating Material UI with custom theming required careful planning to avoid style conflicts and ensure maintainability.

Another challenge was ensuring the site’s scalability for a global audience. Firebase’s robust hosting infrastructure and CDN capabilities allowed me to deliver content quickly and reliably, even under high traffic conditions.

Outcome

The Ocean Aero website successfully showcases their revolutionary AUSV technology while providing a fast, accessible, and visually appealing experience for users. The combination of React, After.js, Material UI, Figma, and Firebase resulted in a modern web application that aligns with Ocean Aero’s mission to innovate in the marine technology space.

This project was a fantastic opportunity to blend cutting-edge web development techniques with a focus on user experience and performance. I’m proud to have contributed to Ocean Aero’s digital presence and look forward to tackling similar challenges in future projects.

Explore the site: Ocean Aero