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Work

VituMob · Nairobi

Taking over a production system in a language I did not write

Role
Software Developer & Product Support Specialist
Period
2016–2020
Location
Nairobi, Kenya

The problem

I was an Android developer working in Java. The job was a JavaScript Chrome extension doing web scraping against retailer sites that changed without warning. I said, honestly, that I did not code in JS.

Context

  • VituMob let customers in Kenya buy from Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Victoria's Secret and other US retailers and have items delivered to their door.
  • The system was a Chrome extension that scraped product data from retailer sites and integrated with a backend handling orders and shipping from US warehouses.
  • Eugene Mutai, who built it, taught me the architecture instead of giving me safe tasks. The entry test was a real integration bug blocking Victoria's Secret orders.
  • Founder Matt Meyer set the brief: fix the integration. No easing in.

How I approached it

  1. 01

    Admit the gap, then close it

    I said I did not know JavaScript instead of performing competence. That honesty is what made the mentorship possible, and being handed real ownership instead of starter tasks is the reason I learned fast enough to take the system over.

  2. 02

    Understand the whole path, not just the bug

    The Victoria's Secret failure was an integration problem, not a UI fix. It meant understanding how their site structured product data, how our scraper read it, where the two diverged, and how to bridge them reliably, against a target that changed whenever the retailer shipped.

  3. 03

    Own the code and the consequence

    I was doing product support at the same time as development. When something broke, I was the one talking to the customer. That closes a loop most engineers never close: you do not just log the ticket, you fix the code and then change the process so the issue stops recurring.

  4. 04

    Follow the problem past your comfort

    I moved from the extension into the backend, working with lead developer Douglas Atati to rebuild the shipping side in PHP and Laravel. Java, JavaScript, PHP: different tools for the same work. The problem-solving is the transferable part.

What I did

  • Took ownership of the Chrome extension and integrated 50+ additional stores
  • Fixed the Victoria's Secret integration blocking orders on a top-performing store
  • Rebuilt the shipping backend in PHP and Laravel alongside the lead developer
  • Improved checkout flow performance and reduced cart abandonment
  • Supported 200+ users a month while owning the code they reported against

Result

50+

Store integrations built

35%

Increase in extension adoption

40%

Faster checkout

90%

First-contact resolution

What I took from it

  • A language is a tool. Problem-solving is the skill that actually transfers, and it transfers further than people expect.
  • The scary part is admitting you do not know something. Everything after that is just learning.
  • Building and supporting the same system teaches you how things work and how they break. That combination is what later made operations legible to me.
  • Being trusted before you feel ready is how people grow. It is how I did.

Related

Other work

If any of this is the shape of a problem you have, I'd like to hear about it.

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