At Tesco I was responsible for all XHTML/CSS development, this included making sure the output was X-browser tested and working back to IE5, also that it was fully accessible. I was also involved in improving site usability through improving the interface design, creating prototypes and getting sign off from managment.
My role was to head up the front end development team, this involved training juniors who were primarily working on existing sites making updates, and building all the templates for new HTML projects. My role also extended to the usability and information architecture and I was regularly taken into client meetings to act as a technical liaison on behalf of the front and backend development teams.
I was hired as a freelance senior front end developer and was responsible for the building of templates for all HTML sites. The company won awards for its HondaF1 site.
I was brought in to assist with the build of a new e-commerce site. This company did not have much experience in this field, so part of my involvement was to make usability improvements to the site and improve the user paths through the site.
Mountain Life was a specialist ski company that a friend and myself founded whilst living in Whistler, Canada. The company organised ski seasons/gap years for post graduates and people on career breaks. As with any start up, my initial responsibility was for marketing and promotion, but included sales, accounts, property management and much more.
The main marketing route was online through a clear web site promoted via google ad-words, banner ads, cross promotion projects with other service providers and listings on key web portals, later on word of mouth became a key aspect to getting new business. Initial enquiries were then followed up with telephone calls and printed material including a 26 page A5 brochure.
I learnt much from this experience, one of the most valuable is the nature of applied web design. Often we work on sites for clients with no true understanding of the impact, but with Mountain Life I could see the real effects my design choices had on potential clients making the valuable step to contacting us. Each year we updated the site and any mistakes directly translated into lost bookings and money in the company, transversely improvements could be registered in increased bookings.
The main lesson learnt is that for any site to be successful it must solve a client/user problem or fulfills a set of clients goals, beautiful design in isolation will never be successful. To measure these goals