Applications Team

The Applications team at Litmus is responsible for almost everything that is user-facing. We build for the web, primarily using Ruby on Rails, with a handful of other languages, tools and frameworks.

Ruby Ruby on Rails VueJS Ember.js Docker ViewComponent

Our Philosophy

We hold certain beliefs and ideals that shape us as a team. While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the ones that have stood the test of time:

We believe in using the right tool for the job. We lean heavily on Rails and the traditional request/response web lifecycle for most of our work. That said, we reach for component frameworks like Vue when there's a clear benefit, and we've implemented full client-side MVC/SPA when the product demanded it.

We minimize barriers to shipping software. We're big fans of testing, using a mix of unit, request, and feature specs to provide good coverage at the right levels. We use those tests to protect ourselves from regressions and to bolster our confidence, and because of that, we're able to practice continuous delivery, using automated deploys to ship many times a day.

We are thoughtful, reflective, and always looking to improve. We work in the open, with strong opinions that are weakly held. We tinker and experiment with our processes and tools, and foster an inclusive, flat structure to encourage everyone to take ownership and improve the things they care most about. We leverage those as opportunities for individual career growth through increased responsibility and impact, improving our teams from the bottom-up.

Our Values

There are certain traits and habits we look for and foster in our people. These aren't platitudes posted on the wall in some random boardroom; we practice them on a daily basis. They profoundly shape how we work individually and as a team, and have an outsized impact on our culture.

How We Work

Setting the tech aside and thinking about process, here's some insight into how we team up and execute on projects at Litmus:

Feature Teams

While our departments are specialized around tech stack and their associated responsbilities, the primary team most engineers are working with on a day-to-day basis is their feature team. They're responsible for specific products and features at Litmus, based on a roadmap set by our product team. These teams are a multi-disciplinary, with engineers covering both the application and infrastructure stacks, a designer, product manager, and engineering manager. They have autonomy in deciding how their products and features are built, which involves regular collaboration with everyone on the team, as well as external stakeholders.

Schedules

Most of our teams follow two-week development cycles. Some adhere to a scrum process, others use kanban; teams are free to self-organize however they see fit. Despite these variations, there are some common traits across all teams:

Our Team

You're only as good as the company you keep. Our Applications team is a motley crew of talented developers with a diverse set of skills and backgrounds. Interested in working with us? We're hiring!