Michael
Kaplan
FRONT END CONSULTANT
As a front end web manager/developer with over 20 years of experience, I've developed a number of valuable skills to offer your organization.
01
I can collaborate seamlessly with your internal team or be your team—without any overhead costs!
02
I've been responsible for all facets of the front end web development life cycle, including visual design, business analysis, UI/UX, and QA.
03
I have worked with a diverse set of industries including finance, consumer goods, health care, pro sports, high fashion, and technology/SAAS.
01 Philosophy
Many modern businesses are heavily focused on boosting acquisition and retention — almost to the exclusion of all else. Ironically, some of the websites that score highest in these areas are actually horrible websites! Just because people are subscribing to and using a digital product doesn't mean they necessarily enjoy the experience. Don't be the DMV of websites! Let me help you address the "valley" which lies in between acquisition and retention, which many firms miss entirely!
1.
SENSIBLE INNOVATION
When developers spend time learning new tools and libraries, that costs your business money. Innovation must be weighed against the cost of its learning curve and its benefits carefully considered.
2.
OCCAM'S RAZOR
Begin with the simplest implementation of an idea and if it works, then it's worth spending time to iterate further on it. Like a piece of machinery, the more moving parts your code has, the more can go wrong. Don't over-engineer.
3.
PLATFORM AGNOSTICISM
PCs used to be most popular platform for development. Now it's Mac. Support both in your development environment because you never know when it's going to swing back the other way. By supporting both, you'll have your pick of great candidates without their platform preference becoming an obstacle.
4.
MAINTAINABILITY
Write code as though someone else will be the one to maintain it. Code that is well-commented and easier to understand is better than code that's shorter but more obscure. It's worth a few extra bytes if it cuts down on ramp-up time.
5.
SEPARATION OF CONCERNS
Keep design and style-related markup out of your structural code. Aim for a site which you could reskin entirely without having to change the structural code.
03 Experience
2020 – PRESENT
SELF-EMPLOYED
Providing design/development, tech management, user experience design, copywriting, technical writing, and user experience writing services
2018–2020
FRESHLY
Senior Front End Developer
Employed cutting-edge technologies like React, Ruby-on-Rails, Web Sockets, and Lottie, to deliver best-in-class solutions which helped to propel Freshly from startup to profitable corporation. Leveraged my background in Usability Engineering and Psychology to architect optimal front end experiences which successfully increased user retention and satisfaction.
2014–2018
VALTECH
Senior Front End Developer
Hands-on manager of teams of developers, ensuring on-time/on-budget delivery of high-visibility, high-quality code through code reviews,resource planning, and guided discussions. Innovated new approaches to developing common core functionality aimed at reducing page load time and code complexity while maximizing reusability across the development team.
2006–2014
MORGAN STANLEY
Web Developer / Project Manager
Managed the usage and training of offshore development teams, served as key liaison between Firm clients and development staff, managing relationships and prospecting new business, and collaborated with development teams to create rich, interactive applications using DHTML, Flex, CGI, JS, and ASP.net technologies
CONTACT
Let me know how I can be of service to your organization by completing the form to the right or via the e-mail address below. Thank you very much for your interest!