By Chijioke Uzodinma | Backend Lead, Bloom After
In my previous articles, I walked through our journey from planning the system in Week 1, to building the backend in Week 2, and stabilizing and connecting everything in Week 3.
Week 4 was the final stretch.
This week was focused on finishing the product, fixing critical issues, and making sure everything works smoothly across all pages.
What I Shipped This Week
As Backend Lead, my focus this week was on refining the system and resolving issues that affected the overall user experience.
Here are the key things I finalized:
- Completed the admin dashboard, ensuring all core actions work properly
- Fixed multiple frontend integration and UI bugs
- Resolved a major routing issue on the frontend
- Ensured all features were fully connected and working end-to-end
By the end of the week, the platform moved from “almost ready” to fully functional.
Fixing a Major Routing Issue (Frontend)
One of the biggest problems we faced this week was with routing on the frontend.
Since the project was built using HTML and CSS, our pages were structured as separate .html files. This caused issues where links looked like:
/resource-page.html
instead of cleaner routes like:
/resources
Because of differences in environments and folder structure, navigating between pages would sometimes result in 404 errors, especially after deployment.
In many cases, we had to manually adjust paths depending on how the project was being served.
To fix this, we used Vite’s configuration and restructuring approach to make routing more consistent and predictable across environments.
This issue really showed how something that seems small — like file paths — can affect the entire user experience.
What Bloom After Does
Bloom After is a platform designed to support Nigerian mothers dealing with Postpartum Depression (PPD).
It focuses on making support simple, accessible, and easy to navigate.
The platform includes:
- Resources and educational content to guide users
- A clinic finder to locate nearby help
- Community stories to create a sense of connection
- An admin system to manage all content on the platform
The goal is to reduce the stress of searching for help and make support easier to access.
Full Sprint Retrospective
What Went Well
One of the biggest improvements across the sprint was how much backend and frontend synchronization improved.
At the beginning, both sides were not always aligned, but over time communication improved, and the system started working more smoothly.
By Week 4, everything felt more connected.
What I Would Do Differently
If I were to start again, I would spend more time defining the full system before development begins.
That includes:
- clearly mapping all pages
- defining how features connect
- planning how data flows between frontend and backend
This would have reduced confusion and prevented unnecessary rework.
What Surprised Me
One thing that stood out was how difficult debugging can be, even for simple issues.
Problems like routing or small UI bugs can take longer to fix than expected.
This sprint showed me that debugging is just as important as building.
Key Technical Lessons
Some key lessons I took from this sprint:
Data Modeling is critical
A well-structured backend makes **everything easier
**
Frontend and Backend must align early
- Misalignment leads to rework
**
- Small issues can have big impact ** Something like routing can break the entire experience
Looking Ahead
This sprint is complete, but there is still more to learn.
Going forward, I want to:
- Improve how I design systems before building
- Get better at structuring and architecture
- Continue building full-stack applications with better coordination
Team Shoutouts
Appreciation to everyone who contributed to Bloom After:
Grace Olabode (Engineering Lead) – for guiding the project and ensuring consistency.
Nanji Lakan (Product Lead) – for shaping the direction of the platform.
Agugua Genevieve (Design Lead) – for designing a calm and supportive experience.
Prisca Onyemaechi (Lead Maintainer) – for keeping everything organized.
And the entire team for making this project possible.
Final Links
Live Product: https://the-bloom-after.netlify.app/
GitHub Repository: https://github.com/Tabi-Project/Bloom-After.git
Final Reflection
From planning in Week 1 to shipping in Week 4, this project was a full learning experience.
It was not just about building features, but about:
- working with a team
- solving real problems
- handling pressure
- and delivering a complete system And in the end, we built something that works — and something that matters.
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