By Heena Gupta, Software Development Engineer III, Gurgaon, India

We believe that travel is a force for good. Our advanced tech helps travelers everywhere create amazing journeys, and our AI and ML tools power unforgettable personalized experiences. Every day, we find new ways to combine our industry knowledge with advanced tech solutions to build a more open world for everyone, everywhere.

In this blog we go behind the scenes to learn about some of the work that goes into powering the tech that drives our features and products. Software Development Engineer III, Heena Gupta describes the impact her work on improving our Flights Search has made, and shares more about her experience at Expedia Group so far.

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Tell us about yourself, and your time at Expedia Group so far

I’m Heena, and I work as a Software Development Engineer III in the Flights team. I joined Expedia Group in 2020, during COVID-19. When I started here the Flights Search page was getting migrated to Progressive Web Application. I’m really proud that I had the opportunity to be a part of this crucial migration to improve the user experience for our travelers and to make the Flight Search application performance more efficient. I have mentored, developed, owned and collaborated across geographies for the project, which was a great learning experience. I feel like I’ve really evolved from an individual contributor into the go-to person for any web-related queries in Flights. I’m also a core organiser for the EG India User Interface Community which helps the front-end folks collaborate with each other.

What are some of your interests outside of work?

In my spare time, I like painting and I have a social media account where I usually post my oil and acrylic paintings for display. It helps to spark my inner creativity and I find it a great way to meditate. I also have a toddler who loves to play with the colours as much as me!

You shared a great article about Expedia Flights Search. Why is this work impactful?

Travel plays a crucial role in the world as it helps to connect people, and enables people to bond with family and friends. And personally, it helps me to explore the globe and discover the unknowns! Taking steps like this to make the Flights Search experience easier, enables people to have less friction when planning and booking their travel – and ultimately plays its part in encouraging more people to travel the globe.

What are some other projects you’ve focused on in your time at EG? 

I have been involved with a lot of features and projects in my time here so far, including:

• Step Indicator
• Price Tracking & Prediction (iOS and Web)
• Ancillaries support in Web along with pre-emptive flight search support
• Horizontal and vertical slicing of Queries on the Flights Search page
• Prefetching JS and CSS bundles for bundle optimisations.

Price Tracking & Prediction (iOS and Web)
One of the features I enjoyed working on the most was Price Tracking & Prediction. It was a great learning experience because it was a machine learning model-based feature which predicts the best suitable flights to offer to the traveler, and helps to retain travelers’ interest. I got to work with Software Developers based in APAC, teams based in London (UK), Amman (Jordon) and Seattle (WA, USA).

Tell us about the technology you use and what you’ve learned at EG.

At EG we’re always in the process of making our platform perform more efficiently, and effectively. We are also excited by new technologies and often plan for how we can improve the current architecture. In my team, we mostly use React.js, Typescript on the Web and Kotlin on the back-end. For new features, we first discuss high level designs and the technical aspects with the respective stakeholders, and then we start to build it.

So far, I’ve learned to write optimal code, high level designs of features, micro front-end architecture and a lot more. I’ve developed better communication skills by working with UX and product teams, delivering presentations and demos across EG. The production incidents we’ve also encountered have taught me the importance of writing test cases, automation and monitoring during releases as well. I’m passing my learnings on to others, too. I’ve really enjoyed mentoring a couple of Software Developers from Native and Web teams, as part of the Expedia Group Mentor program. Mentorship is a two way process, I guide my mentees to improve their coding, prioritise and unblock current developments and at the same time it helps me to learn management, and improve my technical and communication skills. 

What do you enjoy about working at EG?

I enjoy the culture and positive “go get what’s next” attitude reflected in EG’s Culture. I feel supported and have a real sense of ownership when it comes to the work I am focusing on. I have learnt to share my suggestions freely and I feel motivated to look forward to the next steps at EG every day! The workplace culture at EG is flexible and I appreciate the hybrid model we have for working in the office, and from home. And lastly, the perks we have, such as medical insurance, travel and wellness reimbursements, are great for mindfulness and relaxation. Overall I’d say it is rightly said that it is the journey which makes life more interesting than the destination.

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