Employee Spotlight: Chad Baldwin

As a front-end software engineer at High Touch, Chad plays a crucial role in developing our cynergi|suite rent-to-own (RTO) point-of-sale (POS) software platform. He is a shaping mind behind cynergi|suite’s all-new Integrated Home Office/Accounting feature. As Chad states, “I write HTML, CSS, and Typescript to design pages and reports for users to look at. I also spend a lot of time designing workflows to give our customers a product that feels intelligent and intuitive to use.”

Chad’s work involves creating user-friendly interfaces and seamless workflows, ensuring our clients have the best experience possible when using our software.

Favorite Project: Digital Signature Capture

When asked about his favorite project, Chad’s eyes light up as he talks about a new cynergi|suite feature, Digital Signature Capture. As he notes, this project allowed him to dive into innovative technologies and libraries, from PDF renderers to new web frameworks like Svelte.

“The front-end user experience of signing a document from a phone was something Nate Dillion and I got to design mostly on our own, and I think what we have for a first release is great, if I say so myself,” Chad grins.

The Driving Force: User-Centric Excellence

Chad’s driving force at work is crystal clear: the quest for positive user experiences. “The biggest driving force for me is to provide good web experiences for the people who use our products every day. We all have that one app that we’re forced to use in our lives that does a job but is not fun to use or doesn’t work well—my goal is to make sure our products elicit positive experiences instead of negative ones.”

He adds, “How can I help make your daily workflow easier? That’s what keeps me motivated.”

Chad credits his father for introducing him to the world of technology. “My dad had a lot to do with it. He’s an amateur radio operator and was always into electronics,” he explains.

Growing up around computers, playing video games, and being completely captivated by electronics of all kinds, Chad was the go-to “computer wizard” among his peers. Even in high school, the technology coordinator sometimes sought help when faced with technical challenges.

Have you ever wondered what Chad would be doing if he weren’t a software engineer? His response is both amusing and insightful. “Probably QA,” he says with a chuckle. “It would be nice to finally be the one who makes the engineers cry when their code doesn’t work or when you find that one edge case where the code should work, but it doesn’t!”

Beneath the layers of code and digital interfaces, Chad champions a user-centric philosophy. “As alluded to earlier, my approach revolves around placing end users at the forefront. It transcends the mere introduction of new features; it involves understanding the rationale behind each feature request and delivering it in a manner that profoundly benefits the end user,” Chad states.

He elaborates, “I persistently contemplate the daily interactions of individuals who utilize our applications, striving to optimize their experiences and enhance the functionality of our solutions.”

As part of our Employee Spotlight interview, we ask a series of lighthearted questions to highlight the unique, diverse personalities that make our High Touch team great. Talk about unique–have you ever heard of putting black pepper on French toast?

1.    What are some quirky things people don’t know about you?

I have never eaten a hard-boiled egg that’s been hidden after Easter, and I make French toast with ground black pepper. You only learn these things about yourself after living with another person for eight years.

2.    Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Yes. Just because all the ingredients are cylindrical does not make it an exception.

3.    Does a cyclops wink or blink?

A wink is a gesture we use when flirting or being playful. If you were a cyclops, there would be no way to distinguish the playful behavior of a wink without a second eye, so they would just be blinking. However, this would impose our words on cyclops culture—they may have their own word for blinking.

4.    What’s your favorite mobile app or website?

solar.lowtechmagazine.com—it’s a website that runs completely on solar power. You can find details on the website, but the idea is to have the web server use as little power as possible, so the person who runs tries to keep everything to a minimum because each byte transferred costs more power. It’s a website built purely for efficiency, designed so well with so little.

5.    Which famous person would you have dinner with and why?

Post Malone. I’m not a big fan or anything, but he seems like a cool guy to just have dinner and a couple of beers with.

6.    Do you have any pets or kids?

We have two cats, a black cat named Eowyn, and a Siamese named Sophie.

Chad is a shining example of the passion, dedication, and innovation that define the High Touch team. His commitment to creating positive customer experiences and can-do attitude when engineering new solutions is truly inspiring.

If you want to learn more about cynergi|suite, our cloud-based RTO POS platform supported by Chad and our team, contact us to schedule a demo. We’re happy to show you more about cynergi|suite and how it has been expertly engineered for businesses that track, sell, rent, or take payments on inventory.