Hello, my name is Michael Forbes.

I'm an accomplished web developer with over a dozen years of industry experience. I have worked in enterprise, startup, e-commerce, small business, and worked freelance for a time, learning as much as I could and putting to use everything I have learned. I have deployed custom back-ends in PHP and Rails, and written front-end code for companies such as Sony, Microsoft, Hasbro, Hearst Publishing and Homes.com. I have managed the SDLC from start to finish, mentored and trained junior developers, and shared my passion for good code and the importance of the user wherever I have worked. Please read on to learn more about me and how I may be a good fit for your team. At that point, you may want to get in touch. I hope you do.

A builder is only as good as his tools. Here are just a few of mine:

frameworks

That seems like a lot... What do you do best?

My greatest strength is my ability to solve complex problems with simple, elegant solutions. Regardless of whether I am developing for the client or server, the end result is paramount - a great experience for the user and a solid ROI for the business.

Implementations

  • Homes.com

    Description

    B2B application for real estate agents, which includes a custom website product with multiple templates and a rich UI. It launched in August and currently has over 20,000 agents on-board, with 200,000 expected by the end of 2012.

    Involvement

    Replaced inline javascript with unobtrusive jQuery based solutions. Enchanced functionality and optimized performance for better user experience. Added drop-in javascript modules for agent website customization (using require/jquery/backbone). Currently developing a javascript MVC application framework to maximize performance and maintainability.

    Technology

    Require.js, Backbone, Underscore, jQuery, jQuery UI, Custom jQuery plugins, AJAX, JSON

    • DEFUNCT All Countrywide sites are offline.

    Countrywide Home Mortgage

    Description

    A series of microsites designed to drive traffic to Countrywide's mortgage refinance products. These sites were advertised on MSNBC and CNN among others.

    Involvement

    Designed and developed all three sites over a two month period in 2008-2009. The most notable portion of the development was the inclusion of a Home Valuation Tool, which consisted of a PHP wrapper for a .NET web service, which then fed JSON to the front-end. Also of note was a javascript driven tool to help users determine the best loan product.

    Technology

    HTML, CSS, PHP(CodeIgniter), JSON, AJAX, Javascript, jQuery, Mootools, site design.

  • Boca Java

    Description

    One of the Top 500 e-commerce sites, with revenue over $2,000,000 per year.

    Involvement

    Redesigned site UI in 2008 leading to a 20% increase in sales. Replaced third party catalog with custom version (PHP), saving company over $40,000 per year. Managed all front-end development.

    Technology

    HTML, CSS, PHP (CodeIgniter), JSON, AJAX, Javascript, jQuery, UI design.

  • KPE

    Description

    A 'new media' agency startup who had some pretty high profile clients during the dot.com boom, including Sony, Microsoft, Oprah, and the Clinton administration.

    Involvement

    As a site builder and usability engineer, I whet my teeth writing html/css/javascript for KPE's high profile clients, while also getting an education in UI from senior colleagues. It wasn't long before I was the 'go-to' guy for advanced front-end tricks, the highlight being a javascript based online Star Wars game written for Hasbro.

    Technology

    HTML, CSS, Javascript - supporting Netscape Navigator 4! Spacer gifs and font tags... those were the days (I don't want them back).

More About Me

Besides geek things like computers and gadgets, I also enjoy biking, softball, kayaking, basketball (even though I'm terrible at it), and just the general enjoyment of being outdoors (in the shade). I've also done snorkeling, scuba diving, swam with whale sharks, and jumped from a perfectly good airplane. My wife and I are also big fans of animal welfare and have been volunteer foster parents for the Broward County Humane Society for a few years now. We currently have two pets, a black cat named Dolce ('sweet' in Italian), and a Japanese Chin named Baci ('kiss' in Italian). No, we never really set out to name our pets in Italian.. it just kind of worked out that way.

Still reading? Wow, awesome! Contact me now.

About This Site

I've left the site un-optimized so you can take a peek under the hood to see how I work (which is why the stylesheet is way bigger than it should be). This site was coded using Appcelerator Titanium, and uses libraries such as Require, Backbone, Lawnchair, jQuery, pieces of the Foundation framework by Zurb, and SASS/Compass for painless styling. It's also got CodeIgniter underneath (though this site is one page, so it's not really doing much), AND it's responsive!