Nate Koechley’s Resume

Summary

Web professional with deep frontend engineering expertise and a global perspective skilled in user experience design and product strategy. Successful team leader, manager, and executive. Sought-after speaker, writer, and trainer.

Specialties

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, (including YUI and jQuery), DOM, interaction design, performance optimization, accessibility, internationalization, user-centered design, design management, pattern and library creation, and technical communications and training.

Experience

1. Outspark, Inc.

   April 2009 — November 2009 (8 months)

   1. VP, Interactive Services

      • Directed interaction designers, visual and production designers, and web developers across San Francisco and Seoul, Korea offices
      • Increased New User conversion rates by 75%
      • Integrated design process into Agile-based development methodology while balancing multiple large-scale product development cycles with concurrent daily production demands
      • Developed corporate strategies with executive team
      • Coordinated third-party implementations with Meebo, multiple payment gateways, and CDNs

2. Yahoo!, Inc.

   November 2001 — March 2009 (7 years, 5 months)

   1. Technical Evangelist, YUI Library Platform Engineering & Yahoo! Developer Network

      February 2006 — March 2009 (3 years 1 month)

      • Traveled the globe meeting with engineers, designers, and product people; presented and taught at more than 40 design and development events
      • Trained employees on "Professional Frontend Engineering," "High Performance Web Sites," "The YUI CSS Foundation" and more
      • Edited and developed YUI Blog and managed social media strategy
      • Provided cross-company technical leadership, guidance and internal and external consulting
      • Helped organize, lead, and judge Yahoo! Hack Days in California and London
      • Planned and hosted YUI developer meet-ups and events

   2. Senior Frontend Engineer, YUI Library Platform Engineering Group

      July 2005 — March 2009 (3 years, 8 months)

      • Helped design, build, deploy, promote, and support the creation and ongoing development of the widely-respected and adopted Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library
      • Coordinated development of the related Yahoo! Design Patterns Library
      • Created and promoted the widely-cited Graded Browser Support methodology and published publicly-available quarterly updates
      • Bridged Design and Engineering constituencies across the company
      • Facilitated usability research of interface controls and design patterns
      • Organized Yahoo! Accessibility strategy

   3. Sabbatical Backpacking across Asia

      May 2005 — July 2005 (3 months)

      • China, Central Asia, the Himalayas, India, Japan, and Thailand

   4. Senior Web Developer Design Technologist, Platform Design Group

      April 2004 — April 2005 (1 year)

      • Codified and developed centralized libraries of modular design patterns and code
      • Researched and developed core typography and grid-based design standards and templates deployed globally
      • Led multiple extended sessions at Yahoo! Global Design events in London and Hong Kong
      • Embedded with external design agencies for long-range design exploration projects

   5. Web Development Manager Search & Marketplace Division, User Experience & Design Group

      September 2002 — April 2004 (1 years, 7 months)

      • Hired and helped grow the Web Development group from 3 to 60 members
      • Developed and coordinated training programs for Yahoo! staff across Asia, Europe, and Latin America
      • Provided frontend guidance for key redesign of Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Maps
      • Provided Design Management support across Yahoo! Search, Local, Maps, Autos, Shopping, Travel, Real Estate, Auctions, Classifieds, and related properties

   6. Web Developer Commerce Division, User Experience & Design Group

      November 2001 — August 2002 (10 months)

      • One of the first web developers hired at Yahoo!
      • Pioneered and drove adoption of Web Standards across the global company
      • Authored Yahoo!’s first CSS code base
      • Contributed ti Yahoo!’s Homepage, Shopping, Travel, Autos, Real Estate, Auctions, Classifieds, and related properties
      • Invited stakeholder for key Yahoo! Mail projects
      • Received a patent for early work improving typography across web browsers

Additional Activities

• Recent book contributions include "High Performance Web Sites" (O’Reilly, 2008), "Modular Web Design" (New Riders Press, 2009), and "Developing Large Web Applications" (O’Reilly, 2010), and "Microformats" (friends of ED, 2007).
• Consulted for a wide range of companies including the New York Times Digital, Netflix, PayPal, eBay, TiVo, Walmart, Ticketmaster/Live Nation, Oracle, Adobe, and Microsoft.
• Presented about the intersection of design and technology at National Taiwan University (Taiwan), South by Southwest (Austin), @Media (London), Ajax Experience (Boston), IceWeb (Iceland), Kings of Code (Amsterdam), Web Visions (Portland), Web Design World (Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco), CSUN (Los Angeles), and many more.
• Consulted with Microsoft’s IE team during the development of IE7 and IE8.
• Delivered bespoke training sessions for Microsoft (MIX), Adobe (MAX), and Yahoo!.
• First US Patent granted in late 2009.

Education

• University of Wisconsin, Madison
  1995—1998

Contact

• Phone: (415) 935-0877
• Email: nate at koechley dot com