This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by PatrickBastosDeveloper
Restructuring the Benefits Hub – A New Customer Experience
Taking the lead on this delivery was a turning point in my journey in the tech industry. The project involved a complete restructuring of a bank’s benefits hub — not just a UI update, but a true transformation of the customer experience. It was a ToBe delivery, not just an AsIs. Here’s how the journey unfolded:
Week 1 – Business Alignment and Vision Understanding
We received the requirements from the business team. The goal was clear: transform the unified experience of three cards into a personalized journey for five cards, including two new products targeting high-net-worth clients with millionaire-level assets. Additionally, the business team wanted autonomy to configure the client experience dynamically through the backoffice, without relying on the tech team for customer-facing changes.
During refinement with the team, I was able to help the business understand that the delivery of this autonomy in the backoffice would need to be postponed to a second phase in order to meet the deadline for the main release. And that’s what we did. We had to hardcode many parts in the BFF to ensure that in the second phase, we would only need to adjust and integrate it with the backoffice.
Week 2 – Technical Refinement and Planning
This week was fully dedicated to technical refinement with the team, to deeply understand the expected solution, identify risks, and estimate timelines. We discussed architectural changes, potential challenges, and business impacts.
Week 3 – PBI Planning and Architecture Decisions
With everything aligned, we created the PBIs (Product Backlog Items) and designed the ERD (Entity-Relationship Diagram). One of the key decisions was to migrate the existing NoSQL database (MongoDB) to a SQL Server database, ensuring greater robustness and data integrity for the new business rules.
Week 4 – Service Development (V2)
We started development of the new version of the services (V2), keeping the current version running in parallel to avoid impacting existing customers. We also created a separate migration project, following the company’s practice of decoupling migration processes from the main service.
Week 5 – BFF and APIM Development
We advanced with development in the BFF (Backend for Frontend) and APIM (API Management). The focus here was on ensuring performance, version control, and security for the new flows.
Week 6 – E2E Testing with the Mobile Team
Together with the mobile team, we ran end-to-end (E2E) tests in the staging (HML) environment. We validated the entire customer journey, service integrations, and data consistency.
Week 7 – Production Testing with Feature Flag
We rolled out the new experience using a feature flag for a small group of accounts in the production environment. This allowed the business team to conduct real-world testing, identify urgent fixes, and log enhancements for after the full rollout.
Week 8 – Official Launch
On the first day of the eighth week, the new benefits hub was released to the public during a major event focused on the new high-net-worth credit cards. The launch was a success!
- Final Thoughts
Although I’ve only been in the tech field for three years, my background in management and strategic thinking played a key role in driving this delivery. Working with a diverse team including junior, mid-level, and senior developers was incredibly enriching. Each person was essential, not only for their technical expertise but also for their commitment and shared drive to deliver.
This was a fantastic experience that confirmed something for me: I need to keep learning and going deeper into both technical and product domains, so I can contribute even more in future projects.
I was proud of myself!!
Code with purpose. Test with strategy. Deploy with confidence.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by PatrickBastosDeveloper