Live for Just Join IT on about building a product brand

18 listopada 2021

Why does a marketplace for designs printed on metal plates pay so much attention to technology? What are we doing to make it easier for our customers to find and order designs of their choice that will then be efficiently delivered to their homes or offices? These were some of the questions the guys from Just Join IT asked. Wojtek Wiktorowicz, Head of Software Engineering, and Michał Czepczyński, Backend Team Lead take us behind the scenes of working on IT projects at Displate. Enjoy the read!

As of today, Displate’s design catalog has a whopping 1.5 million designs in it, with an average of 2.5 thousand new ones being added daily. Everyone can add their design, which, following an approval process, becomes available for purchase in the marketplace. Our metal posters are purchased by customers in as many as 64 countries. With an operation of this scale, it is a must to develop the backend – all the systems and solutions that are not visible to the user, but are crucial to the website’s website’s efficient operation.

This chunk of work has been taken over by a team of people who not only have designed and continue to build the system but are also responsible for its maintenance and smooth functioning. We asked Wojtek Wiktorowicz, Head of Software Engineering, and Michał Czepczyński, Backend Team Lead, to shed some light on how they are developing our technological infrastructure, where it all began, and what are our plans for the future.

You can watch the whole talk here – the event was live-streamed on Facebook. And here are some tidbits we hand-picked especially for you:

A product written in the DNA

Michał Czepczyński, our Backend Team Lead, has been working for Displate for over 5 years, and started as a Junior PHP Developer. As he recalls, Displate was not a big-name brand at that time. Wojtek Wiktorowicz joined Displate at the beginning of 2021 as Head of Software Engineering. He previously worked for GOG.com and BlaBlaCar. He joined Displate because he wanted to work in a company where the product is the focus and permeates the work of all teams.

– Our job is to develop vision and strategy. To make sure that technology can keep up with the galloping business. At the same time, we want our users to focus on the product itself and not have to worry about the intricate processes and technologies underlying the ordering process. To put it in simpler terms: You just have to find a poster that interests you and be able to order it easily.

– explains Wojtek Wiktorowicz.

Michał Czepczyński recalls that Displate’s growth required engineers to work on the back-end from the very beginning.

“We started with one format and one plate size. But the customers wanted to have the option to order larger designs. At a very early stage, we started working on the technical verification of the artwork and automatic check-ups whether it would meet the requirements. We’re also a marketplace where anyone can upload their work, but we can’t make everything available. We offer many abstract designs that are beyond the scope of ordinary image recognition and need a “human touch”, so to speak. This is why we had to create systems that support the decision-making process,” explains Michał Czepczyński.

There are many more elements and systems that the user can’t see – these are responsible for the actual production of plates, logistics, or... accounting, which can be a challenge when you sell your products on 64 markets.

Backstage photo in our office :)

Bigger scale, bigger needs

– We respond to the challenges that come with scaling up. Displate started as a simple catalog, but as the number of available designs grew, we had to give the users easy access. So we created our own search engine, as well as a recommendation system that makes it easier to choose.

– says Michał Czepczyński.

The technology at Displate is constantly evolving and our engineering teams continue to face new challenges.

“We are undergoing a transformation from a design company to a product company. We see a big difference between the words design and product. We’re shifting from a model where engineering teams are tasked with a project and once it’s done they hand it off to business teams. We now work in a model where we are given a specific problem to solve. The tasks that we perform are to contribute to solving it,” says Wojtek Wiktorowicz.

This model of operation also ensures greater transparency.

“Our goal is to become an organization that is comprised of domains and teams. We also have vertical intersections, which we see as guilds. We want every member of our team to know what’s going on in the company, including the leadership level. However, we also want everyone to have an understanding of the little things and projects. Thanks to this everyone can feel like they’re a magical part of a bigger whole,” explains Wojtek Wiktorowicz.

One of the rooms in our Warsaw office. Nice vibe, huh?

The way to express yourself

A structure like this also makes it easier to develop new products, including the entirely digital ones, such as NFTs, which the Displate backend is working on.

But our focus remains fixed on plates that adorn our offices and our homes. Which posters do Michał and Wojtek have at their places?

“I really like the maps collection, which was a break-out hit on our website at one point. As for me, or, actually, my wife, as it was her making many decisions here, we chose maps of places that were very important in our lives. That’s the cool thing about our product and the idea behind it. Our office is not the product of an interior designer. The founders always put great emphasis on art and wanted to make it part of our surroundings,” says Michał Czepczyński.

– I came across Displate by accident, before I joined the company. I was looking for something to decorate my apartment. During my school years, I played a lot of games, gaming was my passion, as were comic books, and Marvel and DC characters. So I covered one of my walls with my favorite characters.

– recalls Wojtek Wiktorowicz.

He goes on to add that his wall has changed a bit since then, a change also prompted by his wife. It was made possible by the Displate mounting system, which allows you to easily remove the entire poster and hang a different design in its place.

“It’s a great way to express yourself. Depending on where we currently are in life, or just what we feel like looking at on a given day, we can hang different posters to reflect that. And if necessary we can even replace the entire collection,” says Michał Czepczyński.

Dołącz do nas!