The LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) telescope, one of the largest low frequency telescopes in the world, is currently undergoing a major upgrade dubbed LOFAR2. This includes new hardware capabilities and improved software to use it with.

However, the end-of-life status of the telescope’s old proposal tool, NorthStar, means a new one is needed for LOFAR2. Applying the lessons learned from NorthStar and other existing tools like HEDWIG, a conscious choice was made to develop the new proposal tool in a way that is also (relatively) new to the world of research software development. So that we can build it with emphasis on, and balance between, the aspects of user experience, software maintainability, and development speed.

This presentation will demonstrate how the above is achieved by means of:
* stakeholder involvement in short iterations
* design system implemented as an in-house component library
* code analysis and software monitoring tools

Last but not least, in order to showcase the resulting product, there will be a walkthrough of the proposal tool from the perspective of our users – both proposal writers and telescope operators.