Context
Babbel created the world’s first and best-selling language learning app, with over 10 million subscriptions sold.
Their press website was based on Jekyll with content on GitHub, which was very difficult for the marketing team to manage. Our goal was to simplify publishing press releases by introducing Contentful as a CMS and Gatsby to statically generate the website.
I worked with them as an external lead full-stack developer together with a Scrum team of 5 other developers, the team leader/Scrum Master, and a product owner.
Solution
I coached the developers and upgraded their tech skills while also doing some hands-on work. I instructed them about Gatsby, TypeScript, and Contentful, as well as development best practices, via pair & mob programming, code reviews, and personal feedback sessions.
I also designed content models for the website, assisted with content migration, and implemented new designs.
We launched the press website, and as a result, managing press releases became much simpler and faster. After the end of the project, Babbel’s team were able to keep maintaining the solution by themselves.
Reflections
What I really liked about this project was how quickly I was accepted as part of the team and the special bond that I formed with the other developers.
My teammates appreciated me because I was there to help and give advice while also learning and being open to suggestions.
My proactiveness was also appreciated, since I helped to gather requirements from stakeholders, facilitated technical discussions, and provided UX feedback.