Every month, we’ll be helping you get to know team Rawww a little better with our new meet the team series. This week we kick off with interrogating, sorry we mean interviewing, our Front End Developer Thomas…
1.What do you enjoy most about your role as Front End Developer?
Web development can pose a number of puzzles to you on a regular basis and there are often many different ways of solving them. When you solve them or think of better solutions to old puzzles it can be very satisfying.
2.What does an average day look like for you at Rawww?
I wake up in my local town of Rugby and hop on a bus or train to the Electric Wharf in Coventry. Every morning we have a ‘stand up’ session to discuss projects we are working on currently. This allows us to raise any issues or ideas we have. It works well because any other time we probably never have the attention of the whole team. I check our project management software called ‘Flow’ on my dedicated iPad and work my way through the tasks on there. Most days I take a walk down the beautiful canal in the area at lunch time. A typical day involves me updating and looking after our existing websites as well as getting stuck into the new builds. Most days involve pizza too!
3.Tell us about one of your favourite projects you’ve worked on since joining the team and why this was?
Recently, probably some of the pure front end and UI related work for True Traveller and EPM ‘Mentions’ software. Apart from not having to worry about databases or any server side code, I think the satisfaction comes from breathing life into the beautiful wireframe designs that were made for them.
4.What excites or interests you the most about coding?
It excites me when it works and interests me when it doesn’t.
5.What web development trends do you think people will soon hear about?
I think maybe AI related technologies might become accessible and cost effective enough to make their way on to smaller website projects. Although it’s more of a wish than a prediction, I hope that VR get’s it’s foot into the door of mainstream web development so I have more of an excuse to play with my Oculus headset.
6.If you were to give an aspiring Front End Developer one piece of advice about working in the industry, what would it be?
Be curious as to how and why things work on the web and be prepared to have the wheel regularly re-invented in terms of what tools and technologies you use.
We hear you’re a keen photographer, do you have a penchant for anything in particular you like to photograph?
Pigeons and squirrels in Rugby, my mums garden, my cat, food I’m enjoying, synthesisers and toys. At a recent Collectors event at the NEC I could be found spending about an hour photographing a Lego Star Wars build that was so big it covered your whole field of view, as well as retro games consoles.
7.In terms of front end design, what brand websites currently inspire you?
Aesthetically, I think Mailchimp’s rebrand has been quite good. Although it has had a bit of a ‘Marmitey’ reception, I don’t think that is uncommon for drastic rebranding. I think these kinds of deviations from the norm are necessary to drive forward digital design trends into other areas.
Functionally, I bought something from ASOS yesterday for the first time and thought the product browsing and checkout experience was smooth. If I had to pick something particular that helped achieve this it would be the contextual filter bar that changes based on what product category you are browsing.
8.And finally…do you ever feel like you’re in the Matrix with the amount of code you read day to day?
Sort of, I’m just a bit disappointed that I can’t jump over the boiler house or pull of a long trench coat and shades.
If you enjoyed getting to know us a little better, why not explore some of our interviews with other team Rawww members? Or take a look at what else we’ve been discussing on our blog.
