Patryk Polanski programming portfolio

The challenge

I have decided to join Smartzer due to the interesting and challenging spectrum of projects that I would be working on. The startup navigates in the e-commerce space and specialises in providing a solution for creating interactive and shoppable videos. Different video types can be made shoppable, including standard videos, shorts and livestreams. The products can be featured in the videos at selected times and added to cart directly from the player. Smartzer has been around for over a decade and is one of the pioneers in this emerging space. Over time, all the different services provided by the company have evolved into an all-in-one one, comprehensive platform that facilitates and automates the process of creating and launching shoppable videos. After almost six years of focused development of the app, I have joined the team as a software engineer.

During my first few months, I was primarily working on smaller fixes, refactoring class based components, adding types and fixing styling inconsistencies. I was gradually able to familiarise myself with the codebase, which is a monorepo containing all the work since the beginning of the app development. Over time, the complexity and scale of tasks has become more challenging as I began adding new features and fixing fundamental bugs. I began writing unit tests and learned how to deploy the app and all the required services to production. Having had no dedicated designer, I was occasionally asked to create wireframes, user flows and designs for new app features, which were later discussed with the rest of the team. Taking part in client onboarding and sales calls was an activity I got more involved in as my experience and confidence grew.

Overall, the application is complex and has incredible depth and even though I struggled at times, I am appreciative of the opportunity to work on such a grand project where I was required to go above and beyond and push my skills as a developer.