Allow me to introduce you to Matthew (he/him/his), a dedicated 4th-year Computer Science student at the University of British Columbia. Matthew is one of the last Backbencher to join the team, and is one of the only Backbenchers to focus soley on frontend and user experience.
Backend-Focused Background
Matthew's journey into frontend development began with a surprising twist, considering his prior experience with frontend was limited to just building non-framework static html, css, and js pages for backend-focused projects. However, his knack for problem-solving and dedication to writing quality code proved invaluable as he embarked on this new venture.
Before joining The Backbenchers, Matthew's had a co-op term with the BC Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), where he honed his skills in managing healthcare information systems. His responsibilities included improving mass-data healthcare information systems, streamlining workflow processes within managing multiple systems, analyzing existing systems across regional health authorities, and synthesizing and querying individualized data in the healthcare database into comprehensive statistics—a testament to his proficiency in navigating complex datasets.
Additionally, since 2020, Matthew is also working as a Teaching Assistant for UBC's major stream introductory Computer Science course, CPSC 110, which focuses on program design (i.e. writing quality code) and heavily emphasizes the idea: "Code that works properly is not nearly good enough". Code needs to follow a consistent strucutre, a design, that is most appropreate for the domain we work under.
Admin Panel Development & API Design
Matthew's pivotal role in the development of the Admin Panel came to the forefront following the mid-term demo, where the team collectively decided to overhaul the existing interface. Drawing from his extensive experience in healthcare information systems, Matthew spearheaded the redesign efforts, focusing on enhancing usability for Coast Companion analysts.
His expertise extended to crafting a new Figma prototype, refining page layouts, implementing crucial functionalities, and devising a well-formed API design with extensive and clear documentation. Matthew's approach to API design was underscored by his commitment to clarity and precision, as seen thorough his documentation outlining problem domains, edge cases, and input/output types. This structured framework, along with his clear communication skills he developed through his role as a TA, allowed the backend team to focus on implementation, free from ambiguities or inconsistencies and functional design choices.
Matthew has additionally taken the initiative to establish comprehensive style guidelines for the Admin Panel frontend, drawing inspiration from industry-leading practices observed in similar React projects. The guide aims to cultivate a culture of consistency, readability, maintainability within the Backbenchers team, fostering a collaborative environment where code quality is taken as a priority.
Bonus Project: Demo Page
Matthew also undertook the creation of the Demo Page—an essential hub housing links to our demo and final product, release notes, documentation, team information, and even this very blog post introducing Matthew! Docusaurus, a static site generator often used for building documentation websites, was used for this. Matthew authored a comprehensive guide to Docusaurus, tailored specifically for The Backbenchers. This can be read here.
Matthew's Future Plans
Matthew has gained invaluable experience through his contributions to Coast Companion, and he is thankful for the department and Coast Capital for giving him the oppertunity to work on frontend—an area he had never previously considered exploring.
Following this invaluable expereince, Matthew plans on possibly doing another co-op job in the fall of this year, and hopes to join a full-stack software development team and make great contributions.