People of Swish : Joezer Ivan
Swish | 29 March, 2023
To get the ball rolling, can you give us some insight into what you do as a Front-End Developer for Swish?
Joezer Ivan (JI): As Swish’s Front-End Developer, my key areas of responsibility include building and maintaining Swish’s web application, which is what you see when you access Swish through your web browser.
Essentially, this means converting the designs created by our design team into components Swish users can interact with. Various APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) also have to be implemented to fetch and present data to users as efficiently as possible.
As a result, most of my days are spent working on new features to improve the Swish web application, ensuring that it keeps up with the mobile app, and on bug fixes to make the web application more reliable.
We understand that you were essentially a “one-man show” since you joined the team in October 2021. How did you manage this feat of rebuilding the Swish web app from scratch?
JI: Being the sole Front-End Developer for those nine months was really quite a challenge! I had to juggle working on new features and bug fixes on the one hand, and figure out the best method to implement all those features on the other.
To be honest, there were times when I felt really overwhelmed and missed some deadlines. But the team has always been supportive and understanding of tasks taking longer to complete than expected. Moreover, having gone through these tough times has made me better at estimating the time needed to complete specific tasks.
What were some of the most significant challenges you’ve tackled in Swish’s development, and how did you overcome these challenges?
JI: Recently, I think that the most significant challenge has been the implementation of end-to-end encryption in Swish chats and – after implementing the feature – fixing the bugs found as efficiently as possible so that the app doesn’t become too sluggish.
Overall, how I tackle any problem is to approach each one from multiple angles until I decide on the best possible solution. I think that this process is just one interpretation of what “innovation” means – it isn’t only a “lightbulb” moment, but also a case of considering all possible solutions to find the best one.
What does achieving "excellence" at work mean in your perspective?
JI: As a full-time remote worker, excellence requires setting up the best possible conditions. This means planning what I want to achieve for work each day, and minimising distractions so I can focus on accomplishing what I set out to achieve.
Sometimes, this means visiting a co-working space to work in – a proper physical workspace that’s conducive for minimising distractions, getting into “work” mode, and completing all my tasks for the day. Additionally, I’ve also integrated some tools into my toolkit to help me be more productive at work, including Github Copilot – a tool that helps me with advanced AI suggestions based on the comments and name of the function I’m writing, along with ChatGPT, which I’ve found to be really helpful for creating a quick mental model of what needs to be done – setting the base for me to iterate upon.
I think that striving for excellence often involves the effort of more than one person. For Swish, I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside an amazing team of developers who are always up for a quick brainstorming session to come up with solutions to any problems we encounter.
🎬 That’s a wrap! If you’d like to learn more about what makes Swish tick, Joezer Ivan is always a Swish away.
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