Challenge

or a long-term mission, I collaborated with Hetchr's co-founder to design, develop, and launch their first SaaS platform. As the lead on the project, I was responsible for nearly all aspects, including building the front end with React.js, developing the backend, and configuring a full CI/CD pipeline. This was my first experience as a full-stack engineer, and it proved to be an invaluable learning opportunity. The product itself was complex, as it required integrating multiple external tools through hooks, such as GitHub, GitLab, Atlassian, Trello, and others. One major challenge was determining which data was critical for improving developer productivity and which data could be deprioritized. Working closely with the co-founders, we identified key metrics that would help developers manage their time more efficiently and access the right information at the right moment. Scalability was another significant challenge, as the platform needed to handle large volumes of data collected from these external tools. Designing a robust and scalable architecture was crucial to ensure performance under heavy data loads. Lastly, the platform's target audience included large companies managing multiple squads. This required designing a sophisticated permission system to handle complex team structures, allowing developers to be associated with multiple teams and organizations seamlessly

Work

As a web developer, I worked alongside one other developer and a designer to create the first version of Hetchr from scratch. Our initial tasks included conceptualizing and designing Hetchr's core features, mapping out the user flow, and defining the database schema. One of the major challenges was figuring out how to integrate multiple external tools via hooks, which we tackled incrementally. After releasing a small POC (Proof of Concept) and gathering user feedback, we dedicated six months to developing the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The SaaS evolved from a basic list of team developer actions into a fully customizable dashboard. This dashboard enabled both developers and managers to track their KPIs effectively. By aggregating and automating reporting, our solution significantly reduced the need for daily status meetings, streamlining workflows. Managers found it easier to monitor task progress, as all the necessary information was presented clearly and intuitively. With over six external tools connected for the MVP, we successfully scaled the solution to accommodate small and medium-sized teams. To support scalability, the platform was hosted on AWS with a modular monolith architecture. This design was chosen to allow for flexibility as the product grew, enabling us to isolate and convert individual modules into independent cloud functions if needed. To ensure rapid and reliable scaling, we adopted a Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach throughout the application's development. This methodology provided a robust safety net with unit tests, allowing us to continuously refactor and improve the application without fear of introducing bugs. As a result, the Hetchr team could confidently release updates daily, ensuring a fast-paced development cycle while maintaining stability in production.

Result and impact

• Designed and developed the first version of Hetchr from scratch with a small team, leading to the release of a functional MVP within six months.

• Secured adoption by approximately 10 companies during the MVP release, validating the product's value and scalability.

• Transformed a basic action-tracking system into a fully customizable dashboard for developers and managers.

• Automated reporting and aggregated data from over six external tools, significantly reducing the need for daily status meetings.

• Provided managers with clear, actionable insights, improving team efficiency and decision-making.

• Successfully integrated more than six tools (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, Atlassian, Trello) via hooks, enabling seamless aggregation of data and workflows.

• Designed and deployed a modular monolith backend architecture on AWS to support scalability and flexibility.

• Enabled the isolation of modules for future scalability by transitioning individual components into cloud functions when needed.

• Adopted a Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach, ensuring high code quality, continuous refactoring, and reduced production bugs.

• Delivered daily releases with confidence, maintaining stability and enabling rapid iteration based on user feedback.