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Sean Wilson - Edinburgh, UK

Is it time for your website or app to get a
modern & high performance redesign?

I'm a web developer and designer with 10+ years of experience who can help. I've collaborated with global companies like Just Eat and Triumph Motorcycles, created my own commercially successful web apps and have a PhD from Edinburgh University so you can rely on me to deliver high-quality results on schedule.

Ready to get started? Get in touch now.

Previous projects

Just Eat - Online takeaway service
Triumph Motorcycles
Kantar - Data analytics & brand consultancy
Pon Cat - Caterpillar dealer
Epicor - Business software
AG Barr - Drinks manufacturer
The University of Edinburgh
Freak Films - Film production
Department for Work and Pensions
National Museums Scotland
General Dental Council
Blue Alligator - Sales rep software
Berkeley Communications - PR agency
Cloudreach - Cloud computing consultancy
66 Audio - Premium bluetooth headphone brand
Technologistics - UK deliveries
Heehaw - Film & video producer
Asset Guardian - Control systems security
Fogbender - B2B customer support
National Apprenticeship Service

I've completed web and mobile projects for 20+ companies, and independently launched my own commercially successful apps. Checkbot is probably the best example to look at of what I can do, where all graphic design, development and content is my own work.

Checkbot - Website auditor Chrome extension

I’m the creator of Checkbot, a Chrome extension that tests 100s of pages at a time against 50+ SEO, speed and security web best practices. Checkbot automates website optimisation audits that normally have to be done manually such as finding broken links, duplicate page content and insecure password forms. Everything was done by myself including the website graphic design and development, the logo, the UX design, the custom subscription payment solution and I wrote the web best practices guide that goes with the extension. Checkbot has a 4.9 out of 5 average user rating, 40K+ active users and 100s of paid subscriptions.

Skills: Chrome, browser extension, JavaScript, TypeScript, Vue, ag-Grid, Paddle, Netlify, Node, Express, Firebase, Firestore, Firebase Cloud Functions, SaaS

Fresco - Android digital painting app

I’m the creator of Fresco for Android, an easy to use yet feature packed digital painting app for Android phones and tablets. Fresco was one of the first Android apps to feature layers, and comes with configurable brushes, custom implemented image filters and robust undo/redo/autosave. The code was highly optimised to run on low-end devices: it has low memory usage, painting feels responsive with limited processing power and only requires 0.3MB to install. On release, Tested said Fresco was “the best drawing app on Android” praising its intuitive interface and the realism of the digital paintings produced. Fresco has sold 10K+ copies and has 500K+ free downloads.

Skills: Android, C, Java, JNI, UX, optimisation, computer graphics

66audio - Premium headphone brand

I was lead developer for the team working on the 66audio website, a premium wireless headphones brand. On top of backend and frontend coding, I managed the team to prevent defects going live during important product launches by introducing code reviews, a QA process, staging environments and automated testing. I helped with optimising site speed, making security improvements, introducing a multilingual solution, performing SEO audits, adding ecommerce analytics and integrating purchases using Shopify.

Skills: CodeIgniter, WordPress, JavaScript, MySQL, PHP, Google Analytics, Amazon, Shopify, Mailchimp, multilingual, Cloudflare

Triumph Motorcycles - map interactive

Working with Freak Films, I developed an interactive map experience for a Triumph Motorcycles visitor centre. The map was projected on to a 170 inch screen and displayed map pins for brand related Instagram posts and information on Triumph dealership locations. A nearby large touchscreen display let visitors pan, zoom and explore the projected map. I had to develop a custom CMS that let staff curate the Instagram posts shown and automate pulling in dealership data from an existing live database. The map display also had to function if it went offline. The experience this project was part of won a Scottish Design Award.

Skills: Chrome, PostgreSQL, Python, Django, D3.js, Dropbox, Heroku, Javascript, Windows

Cloudreach - Multilingual corporate website

I was the core developer responsible for enhancing and optimising the website for Cloudreach, an international cloud computing consultancy with 700+ employees with headquarters in 17 cities . My role included adding a complete multilingual solution, dynamic content that changed based on the perceived interests of the user, SEO auditing and optimisations, Salesforce integration, migrating to HTTPS, cloud hosting migration, analytics for visitor behaviour, theme customisation and landing page development.

Skills: Heroku, AWS RDS, WordPress, Django, PHP, jQuery, Salesforce, PostgreSQL, S3, Google analytics, SEO, HTTPS, Bootstrap

AV Search - iOS & Android apprenticeship search

I was lead developer on the team that made AV Search for the UK government’s National Apprenticeship Service. The publicly available iOS and Android mobile app lets you search and apply for apprenticeships. The project included writing a web service that lets you search through live apprenticeship data that were synchronized from another database. A core challenge of the project was managing the complexity of multiplatform and multidevice development. We used extensive automated testing to reduce defects and improve code maintainability. The app was successfully launched to the public without a single major bug needing to be fixed.

Skills: PhoneGap/Cordova, JavaScript, Backbone.js, Android, iOS, iPhone, Heroku, Python, Flask, CouchDB, Bamboo, Flurry analytics, Lucene, TDD

How I can help you

Starting from your initial concept, I can take you through the stages of requirements gathering, solution design and software development, all the way to final delivery.

Websites & landing pages

Includes multilingual, responsive mobile/desktop designs, CMS setup & payment integration

SEO, speed, security & analytics

Includes on-page audits, technical SEO, HTTPS setup, CDN setup & conversion tracking

Web apps

Includes single page apps & service integrations using modern web frameworks

UI & UX design

Designing feature-rich modern interfaces that are easy to use on both mobile & desktop

Code quality & training

Help with test suites, code reviews, source control, staging servers & Continuous Integration

Interactives, kiosk apps & games

Includes interactive infographics, touchscreen maps, 2D games & animations

Endorsements

Some words from awesome people I've worked with on previous projects.

Sean and Angélique designed the Fogbender landing page on time, under budget, and with exceptional post-hand-off support. They quickly grasped the concept of a nontrivial product, asked the right questions, helped us with copy, and delivered a well-thought-out Figma spec for web and mobile. We hope to continue working with them in the future and highly recommend their services to anyone looking for help with professional website design.

Sean worked hard to accommodate the pre-production and draft development over the life of the project, successfully debugging and well interpreting non-technical feedback while offering concise explanation when something just couldn’t be done. For people without a head for coding and programming, Sean made the process straightforward, and because of that we’d definitely work with him again.

I required the Asset Guardian website to a undergo a complex revamp, which included a complete freshening it up visually, changing structure and menus to, ensure it reflected with the company’s marketing strategy, and more importantly to improve the page speed so that it complies with Google’s SEO Guidelines. We now have a user-friendly, attractive and super-fast website that has already shown improvements in engagement levels across all devices.

His professionalism, reliability and ability to stay the course whilst always offering quality delivery and very practical solutions I think makes him an asset to any team. Sean is truly a great engineer and I would work with him again.

Working with Sean was a great experience! He resolved all the issues I faced with my website while upgrading the security and speed. He is very professional and organised! Looking forward to our next cooperation!

Sean is always meticulous in considering the various design aspects of the work that he does, so the end result is of a very high standard. On top of this he is personable and easy to work with.

Sean is a seasoned developer with UX skills who’s able to explain complex technical points in a way that is understandable to anyone who’s not familiar with computer jargon. He is passionate for his work, honest and reliable.

Sean manages to resolve any issue/make any update for our website, no matter how complicated! An absolute pleasure to work with!

Sean supported us and the growth of our website for a number of years, and we’ve found his work and advice to be of the highest value. He has a reliable and thoughtful approach and is a proactive problem solver.

Sean’s skills and professionalism has helped to project Blue Alligator into global markets, by developing multi-lingual facilities into our Wordpress website. The door is now open and we’re look forward to having Sean help us make the most of it!

Technical experience

I'm an experienced full stack developer (frontend + backend) with graphic design & UX skills.

Education

PhD in Software Verification, Software Engineering Degree

Languages

JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, PHP, C, OCaml, Coq, Prolog

Frontend

HTML5, CSS3 (Sass, SCSS), Vue

Backend

Node, Express, WordPress, Hugo, Jekyll

Mobile

Android, PhoneGap, Cordova

Frameworks

Shopify, JAMstack, Chrome/Firefox browser extensions

Cloud hosting

AWS, Heroku, Netlify, Digital Ocean, Docker

Storage

PostgreSQL, MySQL, Firebase, Dropbox, Google Drive, S3

Design tools

Figma, Sketch, Affinity Designer, Inkscape, Pixelmator, GIMP

Collaboration

Slack, JIRA, Trello, Asana, Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Bitbucket

Development practices

Software testing, code reviews, Git and Git Flow

Continuous Integration

Jenkins, Bamboo, CircleCI, Docker

My background

  • Student: I grew up in Edinburgh and I’ve loved coding since I was young. I’ve been self-learning programming before high school and haven’t stopped since! In 2004, I completed a Software Engineering degree at Edinburgh University where I finished top of my year.
  • Researcher: I completed a PhD in software verification at Edinburgh University in 2010, which included publishing papers and teaching courses. I then worked as a postdoctoral researcher on semantic web research and development. My time here improved my research, planning, writing and communication skills.
  • Software engineer: I joined a cloud computing consultancy in 2012 as a senior software engineer where I lead commercial projects from concept to completion. I was involved in presales, requirements gathering, architecture design, development, UX, team leadership, mentoring, giving training courses and recruitment.
  • Software consultant: I’ve worked as an independent software consultant full-time now for 5+ years where I’ve delivered software solutions to individuals and large companies from all over the world. I also work on my own commercially successful products where I take charge of design, development and marketing.

Let's work together

To discuss your project and work towards a quote, use the form below or email sw@seanw.org. I'll get back to you within one working day.