Project History

In Germany, psychotherapists are required to prepare treatment reports for health insurance providers at various stages of a patient’s care, such as initial applications or conversion requests when transitioning from short-term to long-term therapy.

The preparation of these reports is typically based on the therapist’s bullet-point notes and involves significant repetitive manual effort. To address this, an application was developed that allows therapists to upload their notes either as text or as an image file and automatically generate the required applications using AI. This significantly reduces administrative workload and enables therapists to dedicate more time to patient care.

The project was implemented as a prototype and proof of concept using React and NestJS, with a strong focus on data protection and compliance through the use of the OpenAI API. Strong develop speed was maintained through excessive use of AI development tools such as GitHub Copilot Agent.

My roles: AI Engineer, Developer

My tasks: Project setup, frontend and backend development, integration of OpenAI API, prompt engineering

Tech stack: React, TypeScript, Nest.js, PostgreSQL, Docker, OpenAI API

10/2021 – Today

The project focused on the architectural and code-level review, refactoring, and further development of an Electron-based desktop application used worldwide by the customer’s service technicians. The application enables technicians to configure professional washing and drying appliances and tailor programs to their customers’ specific requirements.

My colleagues and I took over the project from the previous development team in a very poor state. We encountered significant technical debt, including low code quality, numerous undetected bugs, inadequate test automation, non-automated core processes, and a highly inefficient user experience.

Over time, we were able to reverse the situation and fully regain the customer’s trust. The original development team was completely replaced by our team. In addition to redesigning the user interface to be significantly more user-friendly, we reworked the fundamental technical architecture. Large portions of the codebase were refactored, and comprehensive documentation was created for the first time.

Key processes such as translation management, code signing, and application distribution were fully automated. Finally, we substantially improved overall application quality and stability by restructuring the existing unit tests and introducing comprehensive end-to-end testing, effectively eliminating recurring regression issues.

My roles: Software architect, lead developer

My tasks: Revision of software architecture and code, project and process quality improvement, solution design, stakeholder management, refactoring, further development

Tech stack: Electron.js, TypeScript, React, Nest.js, Jest, Playwright, Cucumber.js, Node.js, pnpm, lerna, semantic-release, GitLab, Azure DevOps and Azure Pipelines

Key achievements:

• Took over a critically unstable Electron desktop application and stabilized the project

• Identified and resolved numerous previously undetected bugs

• Redesigned the user interface to significantly improve usability for service technicians
• Introduced comprehensive technical documentation where none previously existed
• Automated key processes, including translation (i18n) workflows, code signing, and versioned application distribution for MacOS and Windows
• Reworked existing unit tests with Jest and introduced end-to-end testing using Playwright to prevent regressions
• Updated 3rd party dependencies and toolchain to new versions
• Migrated repository and pipeline from On-Premise GitLab to Azure DevOps
• Eliminated recurring quality and stability issues and restored full customer trust
• Refactored large parts of the codebase to improve maintainability and quality
• Reviewed and restructured the overall application architecture

04/2019 – 09/2021 and 10/2023 – Today

The customer initiated the development of a SaaS cloud platform that enables their clients to manage professional, cloud-connected appliances. The platform provides features such as analysis of machine workload and usage, live visualization of active programs, notifications for defects and other critical events, and the deployment of cloud-based updates. As a SaaS product, the primary development goals included high availability, scalability, rapid time-to-market for new features, and minimal regression risk.

As a day-one developer on this greenfield project, I had the opportunity to significantly influence architectural decisions and solution designs. My primary responsibility was the Angular-based frontend development; however, the team’s T-shaped development approach also allowed me to contribute to backend tasks. One of the key challenges was implementing a Self-Contained Systems (SCS) architecture and aligning development practices and processes across multiple international teams.

To support this approach, I designed and implemented a next-generation microfrontend architecture using Webpack Module Federation. This enabled seamless integration of independently developed components from different development domains within a single application. In parallel, we adopted a library-based approach to build both an internal project-specific and a reusable, general-purpose Angular UI component library, ensuring a consistent look and feel across the platform.

All components of the system leverage CI/CD pipelines, extensive automated testing, containerization, and infrastructure-as-code to enable fully automated deployment of new features and fixes to the Microsoft Azure cloud. An agile development process allowed the team to rapidly incorporate user feedback and continuously refine development priorities.

My roles: Frontend architect, full-stack developer

My tasks: Architecture and solution design in the frontend domain, Angular and Spring development, UX advice

Tech stack: Angular, TypeScript, Webpack, SCSS, Nest.js, Node.js, Java Spring, Docker, GitLab, Azure, PostgreSQL, Redis, Cosmos DB, Terraform, Jest, Cypress, Selenium, Cucumber

Key achievements:

• Contributed as a day-one developer to a greenfield SaaS cloud platform for managing cloud-connected professional appliances
• Helped define and shape core architectural decisions and solution designs
• Designed and implemented a modern microfrontend architecture using Module Federation
• Established a scalable Self-Contained Systems (SCS) architecture across multiple development domains
• Developed the Angular-based frontend while also contributing to backend tasks in a T-shaped team setup
• Built and maintained both reusable and project-specific Angular UI component libraries
• Revised the complete project and component library for accessibility (a17y) and compliance with the WCAG standards
• Implemented proprietary role-based access control (RBAC) solution
• Carried out the update process from Angular 6 to Angular 20 in live operation of the system
• Introduced new, efficient testing standards with Jest, Cypress and the testing library
• Implemented CI/CD pipelines with automated testing, containerization, and infrastructure-as-code for all application components – both on GitLab and Azure DevOps

06/2017 – 04/2019

With electro mobility and IoT on the rise, even supposedly simple charging devices become smarter. The same is true for this customer’s charging infrastructure consisting of different pieces of hardware like a home charge manager or even smart charging cables. These devices not only have WiFi access but also a web configuration interface which owners can use for configuration.

With growing success of the project and satisfaction of the customer, the scope of the project was extended to also include other car manufacturer’s hardware from the same company group. In 2022, the developed web application can be found on more than half a dozen peripheral devices from four European car OEMs.

To keep the development costs low, we had to find a solutions to manage the large device diversity and different corporate identity style guides while reusing as much code as possible. To solve this, I implemented a configurable style- and component library in Angular which could switch its look and feel on the fly.

My roles: Frontend developer

07/2016 – 12/2017

The customer requested a proof of concept for a training scenario in Virtual Reality (VR) used to enable service employees to work on high voltage devices. This made it possible to practice potentially dangerous tasks in an immersive and secure virtual environment.

We developed a VR application using the 3D game engine Unity and an HTC Vive HMD for the customer. The successful PoC was split into three development phases, each bringing the application to a new quality level.

In the final application the whole repair process could be practiced fully in Virtual Reality. The app featured a full tutorial to get used to the 3D world and controls, a virtual avatar with TSS voice output, high quality 3D visuals and immersive sound effects. The UI was reduced to an absolute minimum to not break the immersion. Instead the virtual avatar was used to communicate tasks and work steps to the user which led to a superior user experience in VR.

My roles: Lead Developer

06/2016 – 10/2016

Big Data and IoT can make even truck tires of our customer intelligent. We developed a platform for fleet managers to monitor the tire pressure and quality of their fleet vehicles. The tires are equipped with pressure sensors that continuously send pressure data to a data lake. The data is used to monitor and identify damaged tires via a web UI.

The web application was designed, developed and integrated nicely in the customer’s CI and system landscape. Custom visualization components have been built using D3.js to create a visual representation of the vehicle and its tires. This helps users to quickly identify damaged tires and their position on the vehicle.

03/2016 – 06/2016

To make the potential of Virtual Reality experienceable, I developed a demo application using Unity 3D for my employer which was showcased at several fairs and events.

The application featured a “VW Käfer” with a custom paint job in a retro garage environment with several different possibilities for interaction. The application was available for Oculus Rift HMD and also for download on Android and iOS smartphones. Using the latter, the demo could be experienced at home using your own smartphone and a Google Cardboard. The Cardboard was also given away to visitors at the before mentioned fairs for free.

My roles: Full Stack Developer

12/2015 – 03/2017

The customer demanded a custom web UI integrated in the customer’s SAP systems which could be used by budget responsible employees. The application should give quick access to planned and remaining project budgets in real time.

We developed a fully custom Angular.JS application which was integrated into the SAP Fiori Dashboard of the customer and connected to the on-premise SAP systems. The UX design was driven by a user centered design process including interviews and user tests with more than 20 internal end users.

My roles: UX Designer, Frontend Developer