A design technologist can move between the design and engineering worlds seamlessly. They can change their shape and blend in depending on the environment, and therein lies their power: they are powerful advocates for holistic thinking. They are the first point of contact for engineers because of their eye for design. They are the first point of contact for designers because of their ability to confirm feasibility and prototype rapidly.
Paula Lavalle
I am currently mulling over the medium of the web. Are we taking full advantage of it? What does it mean to contribute to it?
Portfolio
You are viewing work with sensitive information obscured.
Client: Fashion Retailer
Project: Launch of New Brand
Role: Frontend Engineer
Tools: React.js, Next.js, redux, customized content management system
A principal architect from Formidable along with myself were provided as staff augmentation for launching our client’s new brand. The two of us helped launch the new brand on time.
The client designer was ambitious. The project was on a tight deadline, however, which meant the ambitious animations, fun carousel transitions, and delightful interactions were the first to get cut under such a short timeline. I will never forget the designer telling me what was possible and feeling thankful they remained steadfast as I pushed their design to production. Making a designer’s dream a reality is one of my favorite types of work.
Additionally, I was lucky to experience a commit history where the principal architect and myself pushed alternating commits, unceremoniously, as we worked to complete a single feature together. If you have never weaved in someone else’s commits into your own, I highly encourage it. It’s a lot of fun.
We were so dedicated and hardworking to the project that the Client CTO commended our work to Formidable leadership as well as to us individually.
thanks for your support for our [new brand] launch. [Formidable Principal Architect] and Paula were critical for us, and worked super hard to get it out the door.
Feedback I received directly for my contributions to the project:
I was super impressed at how far your expertise came, that was some pro React work for real
Hey Paula thank you so much for the hard work and dedication to this project. You have mad skills.
Thank you, really appreciate the time, level of detail and questions you asked amidst implementing this.
Dashboards are a tool to support decision making, monitoring, or solving a problem. Each component of the dashboard needs to have a clear reason why it’s there and how it helps the user perform a task or do a job.
Project: Miss You, RIP
Role: Creator, Maintainer, Writer, Illustrator
I grieve the loss of software. I cope by writing love letters to them.
https://missyou.rip