Meet the Techies | A Day in the Life of Marko, a Frontend Developer
He may work primarily from his home office, but make no mistake, sclable Frontend Developer Marko Mlinaric is a people person. From opting for the larger and more collaborative computer science program at TU Wien instead of mathematics, to his user-centric solutions for sclable clients to the social life he’s cultivated at the studio, Marko likes making connections with others — and believes he’s not the only one in his field who feels the same way. “There’s a stereotype that all developers are embracing this nerdy introvert personality, but there are more extroverts than you would think. I have an overflowing Dungeons & Dragons group to prove it!”
7AM
Marko wakes up at 7AM…or a little earlier if one of his two children is up first. The first hour of the day is all about getting the little ones — ages five and two — ready for his wife to take to kindergarten.
8AM
Once the kids are out of the house, Marko settles in for a day of home office. “Nine days out of 10 I work from home,” he says. A few years ago, he also made the decision to reduce his hours. Doing so has allowed him to spend at least two more hours a day with his family. “That time used to be taken up with commuting. Now with sclable’s more flexible schedule we all get that time back.”
It’s at this time in the morning that Marko likes picking up where he left off the afternoon before, oftentimes digging into a coding task or some other kind of problem-solving that requires deep concentration. “Sometimes an idea needs to simmer overnight, even subconsciously. I might just come up with a solution that I HAVE to execute before all the day’s meetings and teamwork start”
9AM
As the rest of sclable logs on, Marko gears up for the daily. “Every day is different,” he says, and this kind of meeting is an important part of kick-starting a day of either hardcore coding or lots of meetings and collaborative work.
Whatever his focus, Marko specializes in visualizations and interactive graphics, and finds creating solutions that improve user workflow especially rewarding. “I like getting interesting problems and solving them in interesting ways, so that users can think to themselves, ‘Oh, this is new and improved. Now I can approach my task in a better way.’ I always try to be on the user side, and I like when I know that a user has benefited from my work in some way.”
11:30AM
Since his mornings are occupied with his kids and code, Marko doesn’t often eat breakfast, so lunch comes somewhat earlier than it may for others. As a child, Marko wanted to be a chef, so he likes to flex his culinary skills at this time if he can. “With two young children, I eat a lot of kid food, so I like to cook something especially tasty at lunch.” If he’s lucky, his wife will join him.
3:30PM
Afternoons working for sclable are also different depending on the day. Sometimes it’s coding, other times it’s meetings. Either way, 90% of the time, Marko signs off at 3:30PM in time to pick up his children from kindergarten. After that, he dedicates his time and energy to them.
On the days he does head to the studio, Marko typically finishes up with the sclable Dungeons & Dragons club. Joining in 2020, D&D satisfies the ambition he once had to parlay his interest in fantasy into a video game or book. “I always thought I’d like to do that, but it would be more than a hobby. It needs commitment and I would be using the same creative skills I exhaust during my work.” Committed to the D&D club, now Marko is the Dungeon Master, and comes up with the adventure the players need to solve. “I also like to give the games an atmosphere, by using music and interesting stories and challenges for the players.” To maintain enthusiasm between games, on most days he will post D&D topics to the sclable group chat.
Marko is a proud extrovert, and it influences how he approaches his days. As he says, “I like having little occasions to go to the studio. D&D is one of the ways I like to stay connected. That way, when I start a project with someone, we already have a connection, because we talk to each other and understand how each other think. I like to foster that.”
Marko, you go on ahead and lead the way. We’re happy to follow.
Stay tuned for more from our “Meet the Techies” series!
This article was written for Sclable by our copywriter, Liz Hendriksen. Check out our website to see the work we do at Sclable!
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