Meet Johannes, our app developer and the guy whose tasks nobody from the business team can quite understand ;) — goodbag spotlight
Meet Johannes, our app developer and the guy whose tasks nobody from the business team can quite understand ;) — goodbag spotlight
Have you ever heard about the employee or team spotlight? Or read something about it? In case you haven’t, employee or team spotlight means presenting the company’s employees to the outside world. Publishing their stories or something interesting about their job and life.
We decided to do something similar with the “goodbag spotlight” series, where eventually you will find the articles about all goodbag’s team members. They will be in the interview-form and consisted of 3 parts.
- General-intro questions (which are same for all)
- Specific questions for each team member’s job
- Short questions with instant answers (again, same for all)
Today, we are talking with Johannes, who will share some things about his life and experience at goodbag. We will kick off with our general section i.e. some introduction questions.
Hi Johannes, could you tell us something about yourself and your role at goodbag?
Hi. My name is Johannes and I am an app developer at goodbag. My job is to make sure that people can use the app without any problems and that the new app designs get implemented in the best ways possible.
Besides, I study informatics at TU Vienna and I am also a freelance photographer.
How and when did you join the goodbag team?
That’s funny. It was at the beginning of this year, more precisely February 2020. One of the cofounders, Todor, is a study colleague of mine. We met 4 years ago, made some projects together and remained friends. However, after my previous company declared bankruptcy, I met Todor in Sauna (haha) and told him that I am searching for a job. He had a perfect job for me and here I am :)
What motivates you to be a part of the goodbag company?
My experiences in the past showed me how important it is to do work that supports your values. Otherwise, I found it difficult to stay motivated and to be fulfilled. At goodbag, I discovered that the work aligns with my personal values, where environmental questions also play a big role. I am trying to have an influence in a broader sense and inspire other people to take more care of the environment. Besides, at goodbag, I find the motivation in the sense that I can be part of broadening the user base and making the users happy.
What are the 3 things you like the most about the goodbag’s culture?
Mission — which is strongly connected to environmental sustainability. Founders and generally all people working at goodbag have a goal of impacting the environment for good.
Flexibility — it is important for our founders that you are happy while doing your job. We are free to spend the working day in the way we prefer, as long as the work gets done.
Professionality — although we are a small and young team, we are pretty professional and everybody knows their roles. You can rely on every single person.
Do you manage to learn while working and how?
Yup. As an app developer, you always have to learn and to keep up with the latest trends. For me, there are always new features, projects, challenges, etc… that I have never encountered before. Even if I had done something before, I try to make it better. Frankly, sometimes in the programming world, it gets tiring to stay updated with the latest trends, so you need to decide where to put your focus.
In addition, what I really like about the learning process at work is that I can work on both my hard and soft skills.
Thank you, Johannes, for answering those general questions, now we will focus more on some specific questions regarding your work specifically.
How hard is it to both study and work at the same time? Can those two things work together or it is a real battle for your time?
I have always been working during my studies so I am used to that extra challenge, at least in the last 7–8 years. It is important for me to get some practical insights aside from my theoretical learnings. Moreover, companies are searching for people with experience in the field.
Probably because I have been working and studying at the same time, my studies took a bit longer than expected, but I am planning to finish my thesis soon.
As for the time battle, work usually wins. Somehow it is easier to find an excuse to not work on the thesis. :) But sometimes you have to be strict about it and plan your time for studies. Lately that worked for me pretty well.
How does the launch of some new feature look like? Are there any trends or rules that you follow?
Usually, at first, I discuss different ideas and options together with Todor and our designer Elén. After some time, when I get the finished designs from Elén, I talk with Todor again to discuss how to do the implementation, since Todor is in charge of the backend part. Often this is an iterative process, which means that at some points it gets back to the conceptual or design phase after some part of the feature is already implemented.
As for some principles or rules, we always strive to make new features useful for our users and to contribute to our bigger value of impacting the environment. Moreover, with every new launch, we try to motivate people to use their goodbags and the app in the best way possible.
What are some cool app features that you would like to implement in the future? Could we hear about any upcoming ones?
For now, the big must-have features are pretty stable that is, we have them implemented. However, there is one really cool thing that we are working on right now. Soon our customers will be able to scan their goodbags in the non-partners’ stores as well. I must say, we are really excited about that feature because it will give us a broader reach!
Furthermore, in the future, I would love to see something like a social component in the app. That means that you could complete different challenges with your friends and share the experience. But this is just an idea for now :)
Has the app ever crashed completely? Why? Where do you hide when that happens? :)
Haha, it never crashed. I have to go for a long walk now ;)
And we came to our final section, where we will go through some short questions to find out more about Johannes :) So, tell us:
- Where is your favorite place to be? Mountains.
- What is one thing you cannot resist? Making bad puns.
- Would you like to visit space once in your life? I think yes, if it was widely accessible.
- If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would you meet? Derek Sivers.
- Do you have a favorite quote? “The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.” — Mark Manson’s, The subtle art of not giving a F*ck.
- Do you have an (office) nickname? What is it? Hannes.
- What is your favorite book so far? Huh, I have to name two. Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
- If you could choose one place worldwide where goodbag opens its next office, which place would that be? Eastern Tirol, Austria (someplace surrounded by the mountains).
- Who would you most like to swap places with on the team? Elén, our designer.
That was Johannes, the person you should think of every time you encounter a bug in our app :). If you liked the article, make sure to follow us on our social media channels. In the following weeks, we will be talking with other team members and get to know them better. Stay tuned :)
About goodbag
goodbag is the first reusable tote bag that lets you plant trees, collect plastic waste out of our oceans, or receive exclusive discounts every time you go shopping. All you need to do is to download the goodbag app, get a goodbag, and start scanning it when you shop. To learn more about it, check our website.
