About

Background

My love of computers began in 1984 when my dad brought home our family’s first computer, the original 128K Macintosh.  My interest in computers grew throughout the 1990’s as I assisted my dad with his independent computer sales and consulting business.  Computer Science was a natural fit for me in college, and I learned how to install and configure a webserver, and develop a website for my senior capstone project.  I gained great experience as a system administrator when I managed Principia College’s Computer Science lab, but I had a growing notion that my passion lay in the website development process.  My first job out of college brought me to the IT department at the Christian Science Monitor in Boston.  At the Monitor, I functioned both as a system administrator and web developer.  After honing my skills and strengths, I was promoted to the role of Lead Web Developer for csmonitor.com.

After working at the Monitor for five years, an unexpected opportunity arose for me to manage the computer lab for Semester at Sea’s Fall 2005 voyage.  Upon my return from the three-month voyage around the world, my dad decided to retire and closed his consulting business.  I assisted with this process and founded AA Cybersolutions to continue to provide his former clients with Macintosh training and support, and to provide both web development and computer consulting services to new clients.

I left Kansas in 2007 to join my now husband in Boston, and continue to support my clients remotely.  I still develop websites for clients around the world.  I am continuing to provide support and maintenance for these existing clients, but I am not taking on any new projects as I have been working full-time as a front end web developer at Zillow.com, in Seattle.

Process

I carefully tailor my process for each new project since each entity and its ideas are unique, and this uniqueness should be fully embodied in the website.  I begin each engagement with an initial consultation to gather requirements and shape the project’s scope.  During this initial conversation, I learn what is important to you, who your intended audience is, and what message should be communicated to your audience.  Your website should be your best marketing and communication tool, so it is critical to spend the necessary time effectively gathering requirements and developing content and design.  Your website will work for you, if designed properly!

After determining the project scope, we will discuss your range of options and will tailor the project to fit your needs and budget.  In most cases, I find that creating a skeleton of the site and determining the best navigation design or site architecture helps organize the site content. I then develop each project in a private directory on my development server.  I communicate with my clients throughout the design process and regularly gain client feedback.  This open and honest communication ensures complete client satisfaction.  My clients are able to view the site’s progress and provide meaningful feedback throughout the development cycle.

Friends & Affiliates