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Digital Experience Architect
Ryan R. Smith
Columbus, WI
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About
Ryan R. Smith specializes in web standards compliant web
design, usability and accessibility, interaction design, information
architecture, search engine optimization, graphic design, and rich
user experiences.
Ryan's specialties: Building user interfaces for responsive web
sites, content management systems, and cloud-based applications,
user-centered design, user experience, graphic and interaction
design, rapid prototyping HTML/CSS sites, wireframe and page
flow diagrams, white boarding, information architecture, web
standards, usability, UI standards, search engine optimization (SEO),
rich user experiences (RIA systems), centralized and distributed
team SCM environments, agile project management, open source
methodologies (tools, applications, and communities), Google Maps
and web-based cartography, software-as-a-solution (SaaS)/platformas-a-solution (PaaS) systems, and mapping return on investment
(ROI) with web-based analytics.
Ryan is also always staying abreast of new and upcoming web
technologies. He focuses on building responsive, accessible,
and highly-usable web sites, single page applications, content
management systems, eCommerce storefronts, and enterprise
business platforms. Ryan looks forward to working with collaborative
teams of people seeking a common goal using open source tools in
designing & developing awesome online services & systems that real
people love to use. -
Education
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Audit - Intro & Advanced Ruby on Rails coursesMadison Area Technical College2006 - 2007
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Bachelor's Degree-Fine Arts-Graphic Design Multimedia CommunicationUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1997 - 2001
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HS Diploma General StudiesAntioch Community High School1993 - 1997
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Experience
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Digital Experience ArchitectMadison, WIFeb 2025 - Present (1 year 4 months)As a Digital Experience Architect (DXA) I will be an innovative and strategic
partner designing and delivering cutting-edge
digital solutions that drive exceptional user experiences across desktop,
mobile, tablet, and social platforms. As DXA I’ll work closely with department
and company team members to align business objectives with user needs. By
ensuring highly usable, consistent, and performant solutions are delivered, I’ll
support marketing’s overall goals in all digital
projects. -
Senior Web DesignerMadison, WIAug 2018 - Feb 2025 (6 years 6 months)• Initiated site-wide improvements and optimizations through UX/UI audits
• Gathered creative assets and developed PHP templates needed to assemble responsive pages
• Developed reusable HTML components and SCSS mixins so new work could leverage them
• Established several, responsive modular email designs reaching over 1M unique inboxes/week
• Designed eye-popping ads and promotions and wrote the UI code to make them
• Pulled members from various teams together to inspire and instill ownership in our websites
• Took the reigns of pushing a user-centered design approach for new, public-facing requests -
UI EngineerWaterloo, WIFeb 2017 - Mar 2018 (1 year 1 month)• Interact with development, BA, and UX design team members to validate
user workflows and support the multi-lingual www.trekbikes.com web property
• Participate in architecture and design discussions leveraging common design
patterns
• Implement key infrastructure components in JSP, responsive HTML, and
Sass/SCSS for important customer-facing product features
• Resolve defects in a timely manner
• Collaborate with internal and remote team members within Atlassian,
Microsoft, Slack, and InVision software products for project management, bug
tracking, and version control activities -
UX/UI DeveloperMadison, WIJan 2015 - Feb 2017 (2 years 1 month)• Work with clients to develop their visions from site maps through wireframes and HTML prototypes
• Iterate through agile backlogs of user stories, estimate work, and track progress through weekly burndown reports
• Visualize application interfaces as style guides
• Create high-fidelity mockups, collaborate and re-work prototypes based on team feedback, and showcase designs with clients
• Analyze user requirements, select appropriate content management systems, and implement approved designs as CMS templates
• Maintain CMS codebases via Git and code reviews via GitHub -
Project Manger and Front-end DeveloperMadison, WIJan 2014 - Nov 2014 (10 months)• Facilitate and maintain a hybrid approach to project management for 2 development teams, split by platform, of 6 members each
• Incorporate both Agile and Kanban methodologies while tracking KPIs (key performance indicators) and velocities for both dev teams
• Work with both internal and client-based development teams to identify, estimate, plan, and schedule work distilled into epics, feature groups, tasks, and subtasks
• Divide timelines for multiple projects into weekly sprints allowing for consistent, history-driven estimation, and team member commitments
• Forecast and dovetail overlapping delivery dates for several projects communicating successes (or unforeseen setbacks) to clients -
Web Designer / DeveloperWindsor, WIJan 2011 - Sep 2013 (2 years 8 months)• Design Photoshop layout comps then covert into slim, accurate, fast-loading Drupal 6 and 7 themes, views, and PHP templates
• Collaborate with internal clients and development team members to maintain company’s high-profile, branded web sites
• Migrate company’s Drupal web hosting to Acquia Dev Cloud
• Utilize agile methodologies and SaaS sites like GitHub, Workfront (AtTask), and Basecamp to manage projects, track code revisions, delegate issues or tasks
• Respond to support system tickets and work directly with customers to resolve issues and document solutions -
Digital Media ConsultantWindsor, WINov 2010 - Jan 2011 (2 months)Developed catalog template system for Diesel Forward's Alliant Power brand using Adobe InDesign and EmSoftware's EmCatalog/EmData plug-ins. This system was then used to automate the near-constant flow & re-flow process of product data, product images as well as keeping track of page numbering in terms of table of contents, sectioning, index and cross-reference throughout the catalog production process.
With the above system in place, Alliant Power went from manually producing a 28-page catalog in 6-months and completely transformed this into auto-producing a 96-page catalog in less than a week! -
User Experience DesignerRatio Switch LLCSun Prairie, WIJan 2000 - Dec 2010 (10 years 11 months)• Implement open source CMS applications on Drupal and WordPress CMS software and serve via reseller web hosting service
• Distill client goals into functional yet beautiful web sites
• Facilitate interactive feedback loops, incorporate user research and translate business requirements into user-friendly interfaces
• Close the gap between complexity and flexibility, clarity and aesthetic to foster more efficient client-to-designer communication -
User Interface Design ConsultantWaukesha, WIJun 2010 - Oct 2010 (4 months)• Listen to and understand customer needs and translate them within an agile development environment to optimize project timelines
• Identify discrepancies between project specs and user requirements; communicate revisions based on best practices and accessibility standards
• Map-out user interaction sequences, document UX guidelines, and establish UI style guides as deliverables
• Develop content strategies and employ user-centered design best practices to ensure team-wide consistency
• Iterate through low-fidelity wireframes, high-fidelity mock-ups on to functional HTML/CSS/JS prototypes -
UXD Consultant for CCAP - Wisconsin Supreme CourtCCAP via Smart Solutions, Inc.Madison, WIJan 2010 - Jun 2010 (5 months)Usability consultant at Smart Solutions ... making bad ideas much-less so.
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Front-end Web DeveloperLeMans CorporationJanesville, WIJun 2008 - May 2009 (11 months)As a Front-end Web Developer at LeMans Corp (Parts-Unlimited) I was part of a small but efficient team of developers responsible for managing the online presence of national motorsports brands, their internal web applications, and "house" brands. Specifically, I worked on converting Photoshop designs, business requirements, observations, client-feedback and tight, marketing-driven deadlines into slim, accurate, fast-loading web sites. Social development team collaboration and constant communication with client teams were crucial components to maintaining the high-level of quality and success these web assets demanded.
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Usability Consultant & Front-end DeveloperHuman Factors InternationalFairfield, IAFeb 2006 - Sep 2008 (2 years 7 months)Stayed in constant connection with HFI via email, chat, WebEx, and phone with team members 2, 4, and 5 time zones away (10-20 hours) while maintaining project clarity. I dove into designing storyboards, analyzing business requirements, and sifting through the noise of multi-threaded emails to product quick, HTML/JS/CSS prototypes for client review. HFI continues to utilize me when needed.
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Interaction DesignerMetavanteMilwaukee, WIMar 2008 - Jun 2008 (3 months)At Metavante I was part of a world-class interaction design team speaking the language of web-standards and usability by building user-centered experiences for enterprise-class web applications.
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User Experience DesignerRatio Switch LLCSun Prairie, WIJan 2000 - Mar 2008 (8 years 2 months)Ratio Switch was a small design studio focused on building brand identities and related design collateral, producing simple, functional, web-standards-compliant, accessible and CMS-driven (Drupal and Wordpress) websites as well as setting up web hosting, email marketing campaigns (both connected to Google Analytics) all for local, small businesses.
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Senior User Experience DesignerNetworked InsightsMadison, WIJun 2007 - Jan 2008 (7 months)As a Senior User Experience Designer, I not only designed user interfaces for Web 2.0 customer interaction networks but also incorporated them into the company's rich internet applications (RIA) technologies which, considered by some, to reach into the Web 3.0 realm.
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Usability ConsultantMadison, WIJun 2006 - Jun 2007 (1 year)• Identify and develop new user-centered design patterns for use within company’s web applications
• Work with team members in producing corporate UI style guides and UX standards
• Write user testing scenarios, build application prototypes, and record user testing sessions
• Participate in face-to-face user testing sessions using paper prototypes to video and eye-tracking tests
• Collaborate with business team members to implement user research-backed style guides and standards across web and desktop applications -
Graphic / Web DesignerWaterloo, WIApr 2002 - Jun 2006 (4 years 2 months)• Strive for ROI with web standards-compliant web sites, and search engine optimization
• Create site maps, IA guidelines, and deliver page flow diagrams for international content to extend reach of Trek's product lines
• Write HTML/CSS templates, develop multimedia modules, tie in multilingual content
• Implement and maintain a common CMS across 4 separate Trek consumer web sites
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Affiliations
A11yProject.com (active contributor), Drupal Association member, MadDUG (Drupal Users Group) member, IXdA member.
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Industries
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Skills
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Elsewhere on the Web
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On Coroflot@webuxr, member since 2006
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