SickBay
SickBay is a reference implementation distilled from the Japanda architecture — the same UI patterns, product discovery experience, and checkout flow, rebuilt as a clean demo vessel that doesn't expose the production codebase.
2026
The challenge
Demonstrating a full e-commerce platform to employers, investors, or clients typically means showing either a live production site (too sensitive) or a stripped toy demo (unconvincing). The goal was a middle path: production-quality UI and UX with all backend dependencies stubbed out cleanly.
The approach
UI and data layers are fully decoupled — every API call is intercepted by a mock layer that returns realistic fixture data. The infinite scroll feed, bandwidth-adaptive media loading, add-to-cart flow, and checkout UI all function exactly as they would in production. The mock layer is invisible to the demo viewer.
Notable details
- Infinite scroll product feed (TanStack Virtual, DOM-virtualized)
- Bandwidth-adaptive media: GIF/video loads on 4G, stills on 3G, skipped on 2G
- Full add-to-cart → checkout flow with mocked payment UI
- LLM-generated catalog fixtures: title, description, tags, SKU
- Guest cart merge on simulated login