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03 2026–in progress

Rewriting the internal admin system

Choosing to rewrite instead of refactor is itself the case study.

Client
Speedlo Pro
Period
2026–in progress
Role
Technical project lead
Stack
ReactTypeScriptGraphQL + ApolloVitest

This project is currently running. What follows are the decisions, not a finished result.

Context

The old internal admin carries substantial technical and design debt. Refactoring it gradually was the obvious option.

I concluded that refactoring would cost more than rewriting from scratch, and I had to defend that call.

Problem

A rewrite means choosing the entire stack and owning that choice for years.

It also means sequencing the work around real constraints rather than an ideal plan.

Decisions

  1. 01

    Rewrite from scratch

    At this level of debt, refactoring would have cost more than starting again. The call was made on an estimate, not a feeling.

  2. 02

    Choose the whole stack, not just the headline technology

    Including the form and validation libraries, because in an admin system forms are what actually determines development speed.

  3. 03

    Introduce documentation, with a multi-year horizon

    The company had none. I selected the tool arguing it would help new colleagues and later serve as the source for an AI chatbot helping clients with configuration.

  4. 04

    Push testing through

    Speedlo had no testing at all. On this project I am introducing Vitest.

  5. 05

    Sequence the work by constraint

    I build the order from what needs UX/UI time, what needs the backend, which is overloaded, what needs research and description, and what frontend can do alone without other teams.

My role

  • I lead the project technically and own the stack decision.
  • I write the briefs and split the work across the team.

Result

  • The project is under way: stack chosen, testing introduced, and documentation exists for the first time in the company’s history.
  • I will add the outcome once there is something to show. Until then this study stands on its decisions.