After finishing my graduation project for HAN University, I joined the CMS development team. I focused mainly on front-end work in Vue, setting up flexible components that could be used to create the content on HAN University's main website. All CMS components were documented, tested and displayed to the team in Storybook, a tool for creating front-end design systems. This way everything, from all the component's possible states to the visual designs, were accessible in one place.
After finishing my part-time design course (see below) I helped out with UI design tasks. I mainly functioned as communication between design and front-end. This consisted of ensuring design achievability and making sure the UI followed WCAG and accessibility standards.
For my graduation project I created the 'HAN Redirect' microservice, a tool to let the HAN University's web editors create shortened URLs or redirects (useful for creating shortened links for posters or redirecting to moved pages, e.g.) without having to edit the site's code.
The team had abundant TypeScript knowledge, so for this service I chose to write the frond-end in Vue (TypeScript) and the back-end in Nest.js (TypeScript). The university's authentication system (Microsoft MSAL) was integrated into the application so users could use their existing work accounts to connect to the microservice.
The 'Redirect' microservice also uses automated unit tests and end-to-end tests (created with Playwright and Supertest libraries) which run after every pull request using automated pipelines. These pipelines also include checks for code quality and type safety.
After getting my bachelor's degree I started working as a developer at the HAN, but I still wanted to learn more about the visual side of Web Development. I decided to take 6 month part-time course in UX- and UI design.
The course mainly focused on making prototypes using Figma. We were taught web design basics like using 12-point grids to distribute content, but also more specific subjects like using Figma's 'auto layout', 'component' and 'variable' features. We were also taught how to make responsive designs, and how to create clickable prototypes.
The course also spent some time on testing and doing UX research. Examples included letting users sort menu items to distribute menu items intuitively, or letting users click through alternative versions of the same prototype to see the impact of your design decisions.
While the course itself only focused on the design aspect, I also learned a lot about CSS by recreating my designs with code. Figma's 'developer mode' is a very useful tool for front-end developers. And trying to recreate some of the more 'creative' design elements like color masks, custom shapes and animations challenged me to learn more about CSS' lesser known features.
The Game Design minor was one of my favorite semesters at the HAN. That's why I decided to stay in touch with it even after I finished the course. Teacher assistants are employed on flex basis, and their work ranges from giving feedback in the online environments to giving workshops.
I started off by telling new students of my experience and giving general tips and feedback. Later I started teaming up with other teachers to give workshops about the Unity game engine and using Git. I also helped students in the project phase of the minor by acting as a 'consultant', holding regular meetings and giving tips of subjects like experience- and level design, and working together across disciplines (art, programming, sound, etc).
After graduating from high school I enrolled in HAN University's ICT course. In this bachelor-level course I mainly focused on Web Development. As extra subject I studied Machine Learning, and for my minor I spent a semester studying Game Design.
During my education I also did two internships. In my second year I worked at Talent Assessment bureau GITP, mainly as a front-ender. For my graduation project I was able to work on a project for HAN University itself where I, as a full-stack developer, fully rebuilt a microservice with up-to-date technologies.
Throughout my education I worked with various technologies. On front-end level I worked with JS/TS frameworks like Vue, Angular and React. On the back-end side I mainly worked with languages like C# and Java. At database level I have worked with both SQL and No-SQL designs. And from my extra subjects I gained some experience with Python and the Unity game engine.