Focus on development: Hello, I’m Pascal!
As Software Developer at the Porsche Digital Lab, Pascal Pflüger works primarily on the Internet of Things. He has always found the interplay between software and hardware fascinating. He is a Consultant with management and IT consultancy MHP, a subsidiary and process supplier of Porsche AG. “In the Lab, we are always working with the latest technologies. It’s really exciting, and offers plenty of scope for innovative prototypes.”
Pascal Pflüger uses his years of experience as a developer to complete innovative projects within a short space of time. His task is to try out different technologies and create prototypes. This allows new technologies to be evaluated and their benefits for Porsche AG established.
Before a prototype is implemented, possible applications are discussed with the Porsche divisions. Workshops take place in the Porsche Digital Lab under the leadership of user experience designers. The workshop results are set out from the user’s perspective in the form of user stories. In agile software development, these describe the requirements for a product; the special thing about them is that they are formulated from the user’s perspective. The user stories are then put into practice within the scope of one to two-week agile project sprints.
In the Lab, we are always working with the latest technologies. It’s really exciting, and offers plenty of scope for innovative prototypes.
During the sprints, the team derives individual programming tasks from the user stories, which are then implemented by the developers. To do this, the team members meet every morning and report on the completed tasks from the previous day, the pending tasks for the current day, and any factors that are hindering them in their work.
Pascal Pflüger uses “pair programming” wherever possible — handling a requirement along with a colleague. “If we sit in front of a screen and work on a problem together, we often make faster progress than we would if we worked on the tasks individually. In addition, any errors are usually noticed straight away by the second person. That saves us time-consuming searches later on.” It also means that knowledge can be quickly transferred from one person to another, which benefits the entire team. Particularly when working with new technologies, this is highly important as there is often little information available.
Pascal Pflüger presents newly completed features to the divisions at the end of a sprint. This ensures that feedback goes directly back into the project. Thanks to this feedback and the constant involvement of the divisions, requests can be taken into account early on, and a high level of satisfaction is ensured.
In summary, as part of the developer team, Pascal Pflüger is responsible for trying out new technologies, evaluating them and implementing promising concepts in subsequent projects with Porsche AG.
For more information on Pascal, you can find his LinkedIn page here.
