E-commerce
These sites are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent at the top.
Case studies in this category
TradeMe
Website: trademe.co.nz
Client: TradeMe
Dates: October 2017 - March 2018
My professional status: contractor at TradeMe
TradeMe has spent the last couple of years working on a new responsive website to replace their current arrangement of separate mobile and desktop sites, with the design teams working on a redesign of the look and feel of the website at the same time.
The new site was initially available to the public as a Preview version, and the TradeMe team actively solicited feedback from their users, so that they could make improvements to the new site on an ongoing basis. The new site is built in AngularJS by the back-end dev team, with the front-end devs working on templated elements within pages that contain a combination of Angular and HTML5.
TradeMe wanted some help getting their latest set of updates to a point where they could be added to the live Preview site, and took on myself and two other contractors for six months to help them get there.
I was responsible for HTML5 and CSS3 coding, as well as peer reviews, accessibility compliance, browser and device testing, and bug-fixing. I began as a member of the Tangram Squad, responsible for building individual elements that could be re-used on multiple pages within the site. After two months I switched to the Design Vision team, where we worked on whole example pages, tweaking and improving on the design and functionality of individual elements in situ.
Find out more about the TradeMe project
Categories: Showcase sites, Front-end developer, Govt web standards tester, Responsive web design/dev, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, e-govt/WCAG compliance, Other CMS, E-commerce, Large sites
Vision Wallcoverings
Website: no longer online
Client: Vision Wallcoverings
Dates: December 2016 - June 2020
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Having become the webmaster for New Zealand wallpaper company Aspiring Walls nine months earlier, in December 2016 I was invited to look after the website of their sister company in Australia, on which the Aspiring Walls website is based. Vision Wallcoverings had been supplying wallpaper products to the Australian market for over 40 years and had one of Australia’s largest ranges of wallpapers and murals designed for both domestic and commercial settings.
The Australian dev company that originally built both sites would remain responsible for any dev work that needed doing, while I would take over as webmaster, responsible for the day-to-day care of the website including all of the e-commerce product updates. Being responsible for updates across both sites meant that I could re-use elements such as product images, saving both companies time and money.
Find out more about the Vision Wallcoverings project
Categories: Client liaison, Project manager, Content-loader, Webmaster, Responsive web design/dev, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, WordPress, E-commerce, Large sites
Aspiring Walls
Website: aspiringwalls.co.nz
Client: Aspiring Walls
Dates: March 2016 onwards
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Wellington-based company Aspiring Walls has been supplying wallpaper products to the New Zealand market for over 40 years.They have one of New Zealand’s largest ranges of wallpapers and murals designed for both domestic and commercial settings, sourced from producers worldwide and supplying an extensive network of retail stockists nationally.
They were just about to launch a new responsive WordPress website that was based on one done for a sister company in Australia by an Australian dev company. They were looking for a New Zealand-based webmaster to take care of the website and asked if I'd be interested, based on my extensive WordPress and e-commerce experience. I am responsible for arranging and managing hosting; adding and removing product ranges; and improving design, layout, functionality and formatting as required.
Find out more about the Aspiring Walls project
Categories: Client liaison, Project manager, Content-loader, Webmaster, Responsive web design/dev, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, WordPress, E-commerce, Large sites
Grosvenor KiwiSaver
Website: in-house online forms, not available to the public
Client: Grosvenor KiwiSaver
Dates: October - November 2015
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Grosvenor Investment Management Limited is one of the Government's official KiwiSaver providers, with a dedicated KiwiSaver website to cater for their 94,000 members. They wanted to prototype a complete online joining/transfer process, which would initially be used by their KiwiSaver advisers, and which could be rolled out to all users on the website at a later date.
They asked me if I could help them to wireframe and design the various pages and screens that would be required (responsive design), and then to build these ready for integration by their in-house developers. I ended up working alongside the developer as we restyled his .asp forms together.
Find out more about the Grosvenor KiwiSaver project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, Responsive web design/dev, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, ASP or ASP.NET, E-commerce, Small sites
Beer Belly Jellies
Website: no longer online
Client: Lindy MacLennan
Dates: September - October 2015, with ongoing support until December 2017
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Beer Belly Jellies was a small business creating craft beer jellies, handmade with New Zealand craft beer. They had had a responsive themed WordPress website built for them a couple of years earlier, which had become a bit messy. It needed a tidy-up and for some of the pages to be redesigned and rebuilt so that they looked nicer and were more user-friendly.
They asked me if I'd be willing to help by identifying some "quick wins" that would improve the look and functionality of the site within a limited number of hours of work. I was responsible for improving the design, layout and formatting of the website.
Find out more about the Beer Belly Jellies project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, Content-loader, Responsive web design/dev, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, WordPress, E-commerce, Small sites
Hearts n Roses
Website: no longer online
Client: Deborah Harris
Dates: November 2013 - April 2015
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Deborah Harris made and sold handmade heart pendants and felt the time was right to branch out and put her artwork online. The website needed to be a fully-functioning e-commerce site where she could display and sell the individual heart pendants. She also wanted a weddings section where she could showcase her custom-made bespoke hearts that were made to order to match the flowers and colours chosen by the wedding and bridal party.
I was responsible for client liaison, project management, hosting and Domain name management, scoping, information architecture, site schematics, selection and re-styling of the WordPress e-commerce theme, HTML5, CSS3, LESS, some PHP wrangling, building the skeleton site, testing, CMS training, QA and ongoing support, some content production management, writing and editing, creating product and portfolio graphics.
Find out more about the Hearts n Roses project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, Content-loader, Responsive web design/dev, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, WordPress, E-commerce, Small sites
Zumo Coffee
Website: zumo.co.nz (responsive web design wireframes)
Client: Zumo Coffee Roasters
Dates: February 2013
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Zumo is a coffee roasting company and coffee house based in Nelson. I was approached to put together a quote for an online web application which would allow Nelsonians to order their cup of Zumo coffee via their smartphone, tablet or desktop computer, ready for pickup/takeaway, in-house enjoyment or home delivery.
As part of the quote, I put together a full set of wireframes to demonstrate the responsive layout, the web app's functionality, and the ordering process itself; across the 11 templates that I had identified as being necessary for the app to function as required. The project was put on hold a short while after I delivered my wireframes, but I'm including it in my portfolio because it was a great piece of work!
Find out more about the Zumo Coffee project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Responsive web design/dev, E-commerce, Small sites
Kirkaldie & Stains
Website: no longer online
Client: Kirkaldie & Stains
Dates: August - October 2012
My professional status: contractor at Heyday
Kirkcaldie & Stains is an icon of the New Zealand retail industry with a singularly distinctive character, and is renowned for its consistent standards of excellence. The existing website was in need of refurbishment - and the company felt it was time to develop part of the website into an e-commerce Online Store, as well as re-designing their brochure and news content.
Heyday were invited to design and develop the new website, and I was asked to join the team for a few weeks to carry out the front-end development. I was responsible for the HTML (HTML5), CSS (CSS3 and LESS) and some of the jQuery, and also for integrating my new code into SilverStripe, building the CMS's layout and include files which were then programmed by Heyday's Glenn Bautista.
Find out more about the Kirkaldie & Stains project
Categories: Showcase sites, Scoping/pitching/quoting, Website designer, Front-end developer, CSS-based layout, CSS3, HTML5, jQuery/JavaScript, SilverStripe, E-commerce, Large sites
HealthEd
Website: healthed.govt.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Ministry of Health
Dates: January - June 2011, with the bulk of the work being carried out in May and June
Government status: Government Ministry
My professional status: contractor at Learning Media
The Ministry of Health wanted a complete restructure, redesign, and rebuild of their existing HeathEd website. The new site had been designed by DNA and was being built in Drupal 7 by Catalyst. Learning Media was in charge of the content, and it was my job as web editor to ensure that all 600 resources were titled and described consistently and with Seach Engine Optimisation (SEO) in mind; that the 200+ resources with HTML versions were formatted correctly; and that Catalyst's build matched DNA's design pixel-perfectly.
Resources on the HealthEd website were available in Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, Cambodian-Khmer, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Cook Islands Māori, English, Fijian, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Māori, Niuean, Persian (Farsi), Pushto Afghani, Sāmoan, Somali, Thai, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tuvaluan and Vietnamese.
Find out more about the HealthEd project
Categories: Govt web standards tester, Writing for the web, Content-loader, CSS-based layout, e-govt/WCAG compliance, Drupal, E-commerce, Government websites, Large sites
Snapper
Website: snapper.co.nz
Client: Snapper
Dates: December 2010 - March 2011
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Snapper is New Zealand's leading contactless payment system and can be used for a wide range of transactions including shopping, taxis and public transport. Registered Snapper users have online access to their Snapper transaction history and current balance.
The Snapper team wanted to upgrade the functionality of the transaction history page, and asked me to design and build a new version with enhanced functionality and ease of use. I was responsible for client liaison, project management, reviewing and refining the information architecture, design, XHTML and CSS, jQuery, testing, QA and ongoing support.
Find out more about the Snapper project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, CSS-based layout, jQuery/JavaScript, Other CMS, E-commerce, Small sites
Bamford Medical
Website: no longer online
Client: WM Bamford & Co Ltd
Dates: May - July 2009 and March - May 2010 with ongoing support until 2015
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Following the successful launch of the Bamford website, we were asked to create a companion website, Bamford Medical, which would allow the company to sell a selection of their medical products online. The templates and CMS backend of the new site were based on the original Bamford site, with a completely different look and feel so that they were easily distinguishable from one another.
I was responsible for the initial quote, information architecture, ongoing project management and client liaison, web design, HTML and CSS, jQuery, testing, CMS and photoshop training, QA/proof-reading and ongoing support.
Find out more about the Bamford Medical project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, CSS-based layout, jQuery/JavaScript, ExpressionEngine, E-commerce, Medium sites
Cavalier Bremworth
Website: cavbrem.co.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Cavalier Bremworth
Dates: January - February 2009
My professional status: contractor at DNA
This website represented the first roll-out of the new Cavalier Bremworth branding by DNA. My responsibility was to build a large set of template pages within a very tight timeframe and budget, and prepare them for integration into a custom-built .net CMS.
The new site incorporated a very high level of interactivity for visitors considering purchasing a new carpet from the company, and therefore included a large amount of jQuery and Shadowbox programming, for which I was also responsible. It was the most technical site I had ever built, with an extremely steep learning curve when it came to extending my jQuery skills, which I really enjoyed.
Find out more about the Cavalier Bremworth project
Categories: Showcase sites, Scoping/pitching/quoting, Front-end developer, CSS-based layout, jQuery/JavaScript, ASP or ASP.NET, E-commerce, Large sites
Historic Places Trust
Website: historicplaces.org.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Historic Places Trust
Dates: July - October 2008
Government status: Crown Entity
My professional status: employee at Shift
The Historic Places Trust wanted a new website which focused on their properties around the country that are open to visitors. The site included detailed information about the Trust's places to visit, venue hire, events, exhibitions and tours, and included an online store.
I built 22 templates for the site in XHTML and pure CSS, and liaised closely with the team at Datacom who integrated the templates into the Sitecore CMS. I also wrote a comprehensive handover document for Datacom to facilitate integration of my templates and provided ongoing support to them during the integration process.
Find out more about the Historic Places Trust project
Categories: Front-end developer, Govt web standards tester, Writing for the web, CSS-based layout, e-govt/WCAG compliance, Sitecore, E-commerce, Government websites, Large sites
Clean Edge
Website: not online
Client: Clean Edge
Dates: December 2007
My professional status: employee at Shift
Clean Edge was planned as a new online business, showcasing the work of New Zealand artists and allowing visitors to buy their paintings online. My job was to build a set of 23 templates which were then incorporated into the ExpressionEngine CMS by Tom St George, my colleague at Shift. The site design was very graphic-rich and incorporated a number of dynamic visual effects which I created using the script.aculo.us JavaScript library, which I taught myself to use. Find out more about the Clean Edge project
Categories: Front-end developer, CSS-based layout, jQuery/JavaScript, ExpressionEngine, E-commerce, Medium sites
Timeframes
Website: timeframes.natlib.govt.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: National Library of New Zealand
Dates: July - August 2005
Government status: Government Agency
My professional status: contractor at Shift
The National Library of New Zealand wanted to update the huge Alexander Turnbull image database available online, so that users could more easily search the database, save and order images. I built a CSS website front-end, which was then integrated into the database. The site had a liquid layout with min-width, followed e-government guidelines with a very high level of accessibility, and was built in XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS. It was consistent across a total of 12 browsers in Mac and PC. Find out more about the Timeframes project
Categories: Front-end developer, Govt web standards tester, CSS-based layout, e-govt/WCAG compliance, Other CMS, E-commerce, Government websites, Large sites
Simillimum
Website: arnica.co.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Simillimum Homeopathic Pharmacy
Dates: February - September 2004
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
Originally designed as an online brochure, Simillimum needed a revamp - into a useful, interactive site generating additional income. I tidied up the existing website and professionalised the look. Find out more about the Simillimum project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, Content-loader, Old-school table layout, No CMS, E-commerce, Small sites
Contact Energy
Website: mycontact.co.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Contact Energy
Dates: January - July 2001
My professional status: employee at Origin Design
Contact was a large database-driven business-to-consumer website and was fully integrated with the company's billing systems. I built the templates in highly robust HTML which were used by the programming team to build the website itself. Each template was complex, including large amounts of navigation and functionality, as well as being content-rich. Find out more about the Contact Energy project
Categories: Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, jQuery/JavaScript, Old-school table layout, Database-driven (pre-CMS), E-commerce, Large sites
Monkey Records
Website: monkeyrecords.co.nz (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Monkey Records
Dates: July - October 2000
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
The Monkey Records website was an e-commerce venture, with the record label relying on it to provide a large proportion of their CD sales. I designed and built the site, which includes information on all Monkey's recording artists, and a simple shopping cart where visitors could listen to and buy CDs. Find out more about the Monkey Records project
Categories: Scoping/pitching/quoting, Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, Content-loader, jQuery/JavaScript, Old-school table layout, No CMS, E-commerce, Small sites
Wai 100%
Website: wai100.com (site has since been redesigned)
Client: Minaaka
Dates: May 2000 - September 2001
My professional status: contractor at Base Two and then independent web designer/developer
Māori electronica duo Minaaka wanted a fresh and groovy website where they could showcase their music and their artistic vision. I designed and built this promotional site for them. Some of the site was in te reo, the rest was in English; and it included mpg video and mp3 audio files. Find out more about the Wai 100% project
Categories: Client liaison, Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, Content-loader, Webmaster, jQuery/JavaScript, Old-school table layout, No CMS, E-commerce, Medium sites
The Gathering
Website: no longer online
Client: The Gathering
Dates: September 1997 - September 2000
My professional status: independent web designer/developer
The Gathering was New Zealand's largest and most well-respected annual dance party. I created, designed, wrote, built and maintained the 900-page multi-award-winning website, giving Gatherers as much information as possible about every aspect of The Gathering, as well as archiving previous parties. Find out more about the The Gathering project
Categories: Project manager, IA & UX, Website designer, Front-end developer, Writing for the web, Content-loader, Webmaster, Old-school table layout, No CMS, E-commerce, Large sites