Google Slides creator admin app*

* Real name obfuscated because of an NDA

Started in as a part of my work as Ruby developer, UI designer and tech lead for Speed & Function

Business role

This application was created to automate most of the manual work the clients’ employees were doing to compile Google Slides with grids of logotypes of companies they had worked with (and there were 2+ thousands).

What it was about

The company was a huge HR / talent management provider.

The app had a React front-end helping employees prepare and create Google Slides, and an admin part. It had a Postgres DB with companies and several types of tags, logo images could be uploaded to the companies, and on the front-end there was a nice interface where the other users could search, filter and select the logos that would comprise a set of slides. The app then sent a request to the Google Slides API.

Challenges

The client had a tool build in Python & simple interactive front-end in jQuery, which we requilt in React / Rails

My responsibilities

I joined the project in my early days in the company as UI designer. After some time I started working as Ruby developer, and later became the tech lead.

  • Advice & guidance on better UX in the web interfaces
  • Authoring deploy procedure documentation
  • Configuring automatic deployment pipeline via Heroku
  • Creating & deploying Ruby on Rails web apps from scratch
  • Creating Rails API back-ends for React
  • Creating risk management assessment documents
  • Creating service objects for performant filter search
  • Designing web pages (in various graphic editors)
  • Developing a home-grown CMS / admin area
  • Estimating large projects
  • Front-end develpment (HTML / CSS /JS)
  • Generating upsell proposals for current clients
  • Integrating data from API providers
  • Participation in creating project roadmaps
  • Refactoring legacy code
  • Reviewing pull requests
  • Setting tasks for team developers
  • Setting up Heroku pipelines & review apps
  • Setting up web sites at Heroku
  • Upgrading gems in legacy Rails projects
  • Videocalls with client’s team
  • Writing feature tests with Capybara
  • Writing internal documentation and tech manuals

Interesting things I did on this project

  • Mentoring junior developers
  • Preparing solution engineering proposals for incoming projects
  • Researching Git workflow patterns
  • Rewriting clumsy legacy HTML into correct, consise, semantic HTML that looks beautiful even with no CSS
  • Technical leadership of a team of developers
  • Upgrading Rails from previous versions

What I discovered while working there

  • Most documented Git flows are worse than what we have been using
  • Clients of an IT service agency are happy with ridiculously long time of development, huge checks and lots of empty video calls just because they don’t know any better
  • A client may spend months adjusting shades of colors on a project before publishing it
← Other projects

Technologies / skills

Main
Secondary

Feedback I received