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National Geographic Photo-Sharing Platform

Led a development team in delivering a photo-sharing platform for over 2 million unique monthly users.

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Project Overview

During my tenure at National Geographic, I served as a Technical Lead and Senior Web Developer for a photo-sharing platform that catered to over 2 million unique monthly users. The project involved maintaining critical infrastructure and leading a development team to deliver a robust, user-friendly platform under tight deadlines.

My Contributions

  • Tech Stack: React (Redux), Docker, Jest, Webpack, Python (Django), AWS Lambda, Node.js (Serverless), S3, Auth0, Storybook, Bamboo, CircleCI
  • Responsibilities:
    • Delivered and maintained a photo-sharing platform with significant user traffic, ensuring high performance and reliability.
    • Managed and maintained a critical authentication infrastructure that supported the secure access of millions of users.
    • Led a development team comprising Senior and Junior developers, QAs, and a Business Analyst, ensuring the successful completion of time-sensitive tasks.
    • Implemented best practices in frontend and backend development, leveraging technologies like Docker, Jest, and Webpack to optimize the development workflow.

Challenges

The main challenge was maintaining a critical authentication infrastructure while managing a large team and adhering to tight deadlines. Ensuring that the platform remained secure, reliable, and performant despite the high traffic was a key focus throughout the project.

Outcomes

The project successfully delivered a high-performing, reliable platform that could handle over 2 million unique monthly users. The authentication infrastructure was fortified, and the team’s coordinated efforts ensured that all deliverables were met on time.

Reflection

This project marked my first experience as a Technical Lead, and it was also the first time I worked on features that were used by millions of photographers. It was rewarding to see how positively users reacted to the new features, and their feedback on forums and social media was both motivating and insightful.

During this project, I gained a deep understanding of continuous integration and delivery, as well as the full testing lifecycle, from unit testing to integration and E2E testing. This experience was crucial in ensuring that we delivered a high-quality platform to our users, and it significantly enhanced my technical leadership skills.