Illustrative storefront · reinterpretation of the original pre-AI university project
Where it started
During Erasmus in Almería, I developed a university e-commerce project for a Madrid butcher with students from four countries. We built it without generative AI tools.
Problems and decisions
Understanding the shop together
The sector was new to the team and everyone brought different experience. Before designing the catalogue and checkout, we had to understand the butcher’s business and find a shared language for making decisions.
Thinking about Arabic
We considered an Arabic version, which would have required right-to-left reading and changes to navigation and alignment. Catalogue planning also covered dietary preferences, such as excluding pork products. The project uses i18next for translations. The Arabic version remained a proposal.
Accounts and payments
Within the team, I handled registration, sign-in and roles, security and cryptography, Stripe integration and the legal aspects of checkout. My work connected the purchase experience to the application’s controls.
How it works
Node.js, Express and TypeScript handle requests. EJS templates generate HTML on the server. CSS, JavaScript and Bootstrap form the interface.
MySQL stores application data. Repository seed scripts provide demonstration products and data for development.
Sessions and dedicated routes connect authentication, catalogue, cart, orders and administration around shared application data.
i18next manages translated content. I integrated Stripe into the purchase flow and worked on identity and role checks connecting the interface to the server.
Inside the project
Catalogue and cart recomposed for the portfolio · demo data
Catalogue · browse cuts and add to basketBasket · quantities, preparation and order summary
What I learned
Working with students from other countries taught me to clarify terminology, responsibilities and shared decisions. In my work on identity and payments, I connected interface behaviour to server checks. These are two parts of the same purchase journey.
Current status
A team university project developed without generative AI. The catalogue and cart have been recomposed for the portfolio using demo data.
