A Day in the Life of Devs at Tapkey

At Tapkey, developers start their day in various ways, but they all have one thing in common—a strong commitment to being their best selves. We spoke with several Tapkey developers to learn more about their daily routines, the technologies and tools they use, and the challenges they face on a daily basis. Here’s what they had to say.

Starting the Day Right 

For Roger, starting his day early is essential. He wakes up between 4 and 4:30 am, prepares food for his pets and breakfast for his wife, and takes his dog for a walk to a park close to his home. “It helps me get ready for the day,” he says. Martin, another developer at Tapkey, starts his day with a workout at 6 am and then has breakfast with his family, which provides him with an energy boost and a sense of accomplishment for the rest of the day. Harald (our Head of DevOps), on the other hand, prioritises his workload by getting an overview of what happened last night, allowing him to prioritise his tasks accordingly. “Grabbing a coffee helps too,” he adds.

Development Process

When it comes to the development process, Tapkey’s team follows a well-structured approach. Roger’s process involves three stages: divergence, convergence, and definition. He gathers as many ideas as possible, consolidates them into a reduced amount of elements, and defines what suits best for the situation. Stefan’s process involves brainstorming sessions and agile ceremonies such as daily standups, retrospectives, and planning. Work items are planned, code is developed mostly independently, and increments are submitted via pull requests that are reviewed before release. Martin syncs with the other developers during the sprint to ensure progress is on track, while Harald thinks about how to achieve goals, makes tryouts, and writes clean implementations with automated tests. Eduard likes to work in small increments, so he can get feedback from his colleagues or customers as early as possible. Of course, every code is reviewed by some other team member before it gets to the actual codebase.

Collaboration and Communication

Tapkey’s development team has a fluid communication system, allowing everyone to gather feedback from others immediately. Agile ceremonies such as daily standups, retrospectives, and planning are used, and the dev team group call on Microsoft Teams allows for immediate communication. Stefan, Martin, and Harald use Teams for virtual office meetings and chats. While Eduard prefers messaging to ask questions.

Task Prioritisation and Workload Management

At Tapkey, users are always the first priority for the development team. Roger prioritises anything impacting customer experience, security, or satisfaction, followed by sustainability to make sure that all solutions are maintainable, robust, secure, performant, and generate a positive impact on the world. Stefan also takes a user-centric view, prioritising tasks that directly benefit customers. Martin plans and prioritises tasks with his superior or colleagues, and if he gets stuck, he takes a break to trigger a “lightbulb moment”. 

Professional Development and Growth

Tapkey encourages professional development and growth for its development team. Roger stays up to date by following multiple blogs, YouTube channels, and software industry authorities, while scheduling daily routines to practice new technologies. Stefan watches a lot of dev webinars, reads articles, and codes personal projects like home automation and making games. Martin watches tutorials, enrolls in courses he’s interested in, and works on personal projects. Harald follows technical topics via multiple channels and works on private projects trying out new technologies. Eduard reads articles, watches videos, and learns from the Stack Overflow—developer’s MVP resource.

Ending the Day

After a long day of work, the Tapkey development team likes to unwind in various ways. Roger ends his day by walking his dog and preparing food for his family, followed by reading articles or books. Stefan sends an “I’ll be off” message and shuts down his computer, ending his workday. As the team wraps up their tasks and calls, they reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of the day. The Tapkey developers are passionate about what they do and thrive on the constant innovation and learning that comes with their work. Their dedication to providing secure and efficient access solutions to their customers is evident in their meticulous approach to every project they undertake.

A Look at Their Coffee Orders

Before we wrap up, let’s not forget about the Tapkey developers’ coffee orders! As it turns out, the team’s caffeine preferences are as varied as their skill sets. Some prefer a strong double espresso with milk and no sugar, while others opt for a frothy cappuccino or latte with lots of sugar. And then there’s Roger, who doesn’t drink coffee at all and prefers tea, fruit juice, or water.

Regardless of their beverage of choice, one thing is clear: the Tapkey developers are fueled by their passion for software development—not just caffeine. From the moment they wake up to the moment they sign off, the Tapkey development team exemplifies what it means to be a dedicated and hardworking software developer. Their commitment to their craft, their passion for innovation, and their drive to succeed are evident in every aspect of their daily routine. With their unique perspectives, diverse skill sets, and unwavering dedication to quality, the Tapkey development team is truly a force to be reckoned with in the world of access solutions.