My Previous Work as a Full-Stack Developer
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Augmented Reality Concept Mobile App
My first dabbling with product design was my BSc thesis in augmented reality. I built a proof-of-concept mobile AR app as a tool in software testing, thanks to Google Cardboard.
The idea is to support the tester by reducing the cognitive workload with contextual UX and so the tester can perform more efficiently during the testing process. The solution involved web technologies — such as JavaScript run on Node.js engine and Google Chrome Extension — and Google Cardboard mobile technologies to develop AR system built on Unity on Android.
The project was also presented by supervisors Dr Christopher Porter and Dr Mark Micallef at the SIGiST Spring Conference 2017 in London and seminars at MITA. It was also displayed at the University of Malta ICT faculty’s annual exhibition, FICTeX.
For more information, you can view the dissertation at https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/25893
Note: As per the non-disclosure agreement that I signed, I have excluded sensitive information and so the following case studies do not reflect views of Think Design.
Nutrition Empire
One of my jobs as a Full-Stack Developer at Think was to renovate online shops — one of which was Nutrition Empire. Think was approached to revamp the website that has been online since the early 2000s. I was in a team of five which included front-end developers, UI/UX designers and project managers to rebrand the shop, update the shop interface and bring it eCommerce features you’d expect in the 2020s (even things as essential as mobile responsiveness).
One of the unique features I had to code was the POYC Vouchers system. POYC Vouchers is a scheme run by the Government of Malta where citizens can use coupons to pay for certain medical or nutritional products. So it was important to present this feature only for the eligible products, inform the customer which are eligible and how to redeem them on the cart and assure both the customer and the shop that the vouchers are verified and have reduced the total price.
This required me to meet the client to understand the system thoroughly and work the the UI/UX designers on an interface that is coherent and is possible to code. As a developer, I also had to keep in mind that the validation is to be run from server-side rather than on the front-end so to assure that the tech-savvy customer cannot maliciously twist the feature to their advantage.
My job was to also sync the website with the in-store stock. With scheduled jobs to check stock availability of products, the Nutrition Empire proceeded to upload tens of thousands of products to their new online shop using a CMS I also helped develop.
The launch of the website coincided with the then-unprecedented lockdown caused by the pandemic in March 2020 and saw a surge of new customers opting to purchase online rather than at the brick-and-mortar store. The front-end developer and I had the duty to support the client in case of any issue and even reacted to customer feedback regarding product menus to redesign it to a simpler, easier method to browse 10,000+ products.
Motors Inc ‘Pay My Bills’
Motors Inc is one of the largest auto dealers in Malta. They required a new service on their website where users can pay their bills via an online hire purchase system.
It was up to us at Think to develop this feature to integrate it to their website since we had already developed their website and its backend system. As a full-stack developer, I was given a user interface by the designer for me to translate to in HTML & CSS. But, more importantly, it was up to me to develop a login/signup system and the hire purchase interface as instructed by the designer and project manager.
Moreover, the job included a communication system between the website and Motors Inc to automatically open accounts of existing clients and enter their due bills. This backend system was also to be integrated to the CMS that already existed for the website.
By switching the hire purchase system to digital, Motors Inc saw a 27% increase in page visits when compared to the previous year.
The new feature was received with positive feedback and was therefore heavily promoted by Motors Inc with a social media campaign.
Marketing Video
Link: https://think.mt/going-digital-a-glance-at-motors-inc/
Thank you for your time. If you liked this project, please check out my profiles on Behance, Dribble and on my website.
