Kristin Baumann, Product Design & Prototyping Manager at HomeToGo

EVENTS code.talks Commerce Special 2017 Exclusive with Kristin Baumann

ABOUT YOU TECH

ABOUT YOU TECH

2 min read

An Interview with Kristin Baumann of HomeToGo, Berlin

In the midst of all the code.talks hustle and bustle, other members of the German e-commerce community took time out of their busy schedules to sit and have a chat with us!

Hi, my name is Kristin Baumann and I am currently working as a Product Design & Prototyping Manager at HomeToGo in Berlin.

  1. What was your keynote about?

My talk , “Using Isomorphic JavaScript with ReactJS in your next Project — Why & How”, examines a recent approach in the development of Frontend web applications. Isomorphic JavaScript (also called Universal JavaScript), merges the classic web application with the single-page application. This means the first rendering of the Frontend happens on the server and then subsequent requests are handled on the client. The combination of Serverside and Clientside rendering yields multiple advantages by default: a fast initial page load, a good setup for SEO, and a high responsiveness on page transitions — all necessary key features for a successful e-commerce website.

 

2. Which topics at code.talks are most interesting for you personally?

As a Frontend developer I am of course particularly interested in all the UI / UX and Frontend architecture topics to stay up to date in such a rapidly changing domain. But of course, a broad conference like code.talks is a good chance to think outside the box and also look into other subjects, such as business or marketing.

3. What do you believe are the important drivers for success in e-commerce?

In e-commerce, everything depends on the customer. We can develop awesome applications with a top notch tech stack, but if this is not what our customer needs, we will fail. The goal is to build the most suitable product for the target group.

4. What are the main challenges for developers who work in the e-commerce industry?

As a developer in the e-commerce sector we are mostly building huge systems that should be in place for several years. However, technology is evolving extremely fast and existing problems are being solved by new approaches. An important question we need to ask ourselves is — How can we keep up with modern techniques and still have a consistent and stable application without spending truckloads on money and time on rewriting major software parts?

5. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned at the conference?

After working abroad for the last years, I was able to update my general knowledge about the German shop landscape. Fortunately, I learned that other companies face very similar challenges when they are implementing changes within their systems. Building a modern software architecture, realizing the still highly debated microservices, integrating an efficient design to development workflows. While discussing these topics at code.talks, I gained several new insights that I will examine more closely now.

Thank you, Kristin, for taking the time to chat with us!

For questions on the topic, you can get in touch with Kristin directly.