| Years | Role | Scope |
| 2022 - 2023 | Software Engineer | Product Strategy, Mobile App Development, Prototyping, Web Development |
Vegpal's first version blended friendship, community, and dating into one flat experience, and the early architecture wasn't built to scale. Members weren't sure how to connect or how to stay safe, so the fix meant rethinking the foundation, not just the screens.
New version reorganizes everything around how vegans actually connect: a home feed for the people you already know, a clear way to reach out to someone new with a note, a dedicated Dating Mode with its own preferences and mutual matching, and built-in safety always one tap away. Under the hood we rebuilt it on a cleaner, scalable architecture, turning a simple piece of software into a dedicated product that can grow with its community.
We rebuilt 2.0 around how vegans actually connect
Before redesigning anything, we sat down with members and ran interviews to understand how they were really using Vegpal: where it clicked, where they hesitated, and what made them feel safe enough to reach out. Those conversations shaped every decision in 2.0.
A home feed that's just your people
The home screen is your community hub, with updates and posts from the connections you already have, so the app feels alive the moment you open it.
Reach out with a note
Tap the search icon to discover new vegans and send a direct note to break the ice. The moment they reply, the conversation moves permanently into your main chat tab.
Dating Mode, only when you want it
Open your profile to toggle on Dating Mode and dial in your preferences. It's a separate, opt-in space, so your community life and your dating life never blur together.
Matching that's mutual by design
A real match only forms when both people respond to each other, so every connection is genuinely two-way.
I worked on Vegpal as the software engineer while also driving the product's progress. I built the real-time messaging, designed the matching algorithm behind mutual connections, and shaped an architecture that scales to thousands of users across both the community and dating sides of the app. Shipping a product this complex taught me how to keep a large social app fast, reliable, and safe as it grows.
Real-time messaging and a matching algorithm sound simple until you scale them. Keeping them fast and reliable for thousands of people, across both community and dating, taught me how much architecture decides whether a product can grow.
A community app lives or dies on trust. Making unmatch, block, and report one-tap actions did more for engagement than any feature, because people connect more freely when they feel safe leaving.
Let's build
something
together.