Resume Extension Series: What & Why
I’ve decided to do a series of resume extensions to describe the involvement that I’ve had in previous projects that I’ve worked on.
What it is
A deep dive into my work, one project at a time.
Why the Resume Extension Series?
The reason I’ve started this is twofold. 1. I’ve found it to be more useful and accurate to describe my involvement in a selected project than to hand over the deliverables and documents within that project. The reason for this is that single documents can’t reflect all of the ‘soft-skilled’ work that the process required of me in between those documents. And additionally, sample work doesn’t reflect my involvement in creating the process.
And the second reason for starting this is because, frankly, it’s difficult to describe what I ‘do’ in a nutshell. That’s it. Simple.
Let’s face it, people are BUSY. They don’t have the time to sit and listen to me jabber on about how fascinating it is to see the different disciplines of user experience, content strategy, project management, social media… twist and turn and weave into a somehow miraculous interactive masterpiece in the end! (Although if you’re at all interested in what goes on in my crazy head of mine, here’s a little glimpse:)
A website project is like making a quilt. It’s an art project. No single quilt is the same in the end. Just as no single website is the same in the end. Don’t get me wrong – the process matters. It matters a lot. More than the talent or the idea or anything. It separates the quality teams from the rest. A solid process – - – A Pattern. But within the pattern, every project is a unique output.
And web design is new. Everyone’s learning all the types of disciplines that goes into it – even and especially the web professionals, themselves. Which brings me back to my original purpose: it’s difficult to describe what I ‘do’ in a nutshell.
Before I go further…
I do want to be sure to frame the purpose of this series to assure that the intention is clear. Web design is a team effort, and because of this, there were so many people involved in each project and I won’t have the opportunity to formally talk with each one of you to get your blessings. I have had the opportunity to work on teams with really smart people, in a variety of different dynamic environments. In fact, collaboration is the most beautiful part of the entire process of web design work. Thank you for the opportunity to work with you – to every single one of you whom I’ve had a 5 min or a 5 year working relationship with. Thank you.
So, in summary, this is intended to be an interpretation of my professional experience. That’s simply the only purpose. What this is not intended to do is act as
- An official case study of the project from the perspective of the company who contracted with the client. (Artemis, i.e., has already done a great job of presenting their portfolio to their audiences,) nor
- A press-release type of publication from the perspective of the client of who owns the site (Most of the clients take care of regularly communicating with their network through a series of different communication avenues, like the City of Aspen does here.)
And now, without further ado, onto the first resume extension!
