Project History

10/2021 – Today

The project is based around the architectural and code wise review, refactoring and further development of an Electron desktop application. The app is used worldwide by the customer’s service technicians. The core functionality is to customize their client’s professional washing and drying appliances and the programs to their individual needs. My colleagues and me have taken over the project from the former development team in a very poor condition. We had to deal with low code quality, undetected bugs, terrible test automation, non-automated core processes and an inhuman user experience of the tool itself.

We managed to turn the tides and gain full trust of the customer though. The former development team was completely replaced by our team. We did not only redesign the UI in a more user-friendly way, we also revised the basic technical principles. Large parts of the application code have been refactored and a documentation was finally created. We fully automated important processes like translation, code signing and distribution. And last but not least, we got rid of the poor application quality and regression bugs by refactoring the existing unit tests and implementing end to end tests.

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

04/2019 – 09/2021 and 10/2023 – Today

The customer started the development of a SaaS cloud platform for their clients which they can use to manage their professional, cloud-connected appliances. Features include the analysis of machine workload and usage, live visualization of running programs, notifications on defects or other important events, or running cloud updates. As a SaaS software product, the development goals included high availability, scalability, short time-to-market of new features and little to no regression.

As a first day developer in this greenfield project, I had to chance to highly influence the architectural decisions and solutions designs. My work was primarily focused on the Angular frontend, but the team’s T-shaping development approach enabled me to work on backend tasks as well. One of the major challenges of the project was to implement the self-contained system (SCS) architecture and harmonize the development and processes between several international teams.

For this approach, I designed implemented a next-gen Microfrontend architecture using Webpack’s new module federation feature which makes it possible to seamlessly integrate components from other development verticals in your application. We used a library approach to build both a project-internal and also a general UI component library for Angular to harmonize the look and feel of the platform.

All individual parts of the application use CI/CD, extensive test automation, containerization and infrastructure-as-code to automatically deploy each new feature or fix to the Microsoft Azure cloud. The agile development approach allowed us to quickly react to user feedback and set the development focus correctly.

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, Java Spring, Docker, Azure, PostgreSQL, Cosmos DB, Terraform, Jest, Selenium, Cucumber

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