Roetgerink

As both Senior Full-Stack Developer and Project Manager, I led the Roetgerink platform from scratch — a significantly larger undertaking than a standard web shop, and one that came with a unique set of challenges before a single line of code was written.

More than an e-commerce site Roetgerink is a large fashion outlet with multiple physical locations, distinct shop identities, and a strong brand positioning that needed to come through online. The platform required a wide range of custom templates covering locations, shops, brand storytelling, and editorial content — far beyond a typical product catalogue. The e-commerce component was only one piece of a much larger digital presence.

Inheriting a broken design When I joined the project, the design had already been completed, approved, and paid for by the client. As I reviewed it with fresh eyes, it became clear that it contained significant flaws — both technically (things that simply couldn't be built as designed) and logically (user flows and layouts that didn't hold up under scrutiny). Raising these issues meant difficult conversations: the client had already signed off and considered the design done. Working through those findings diplomatically, without derailing the project or the client relationship, was one of the harder challenges of my career to that point.

Project management under pressure With a signed contract in place, scope should have been straightforward. In practice, the client consistently revisited decisions and introduced changes throughout the project. Managing this required clear documentation, careful communication, and firm but professional pushback to keep the project within the agreed boundaries. The dual role of developer and project manager meant context-switching constantly — and being accountable for both the quality of the build and the health of the client relationship.

Technical delivery Built on ASP.Net with a VB backend, the platform covered the full stack — from database and routing through to the responsive frontend. The breadth of custom templates and the complexity of the location and shop hierarchy made this one of the most technically demanding projects of this period.