You’re probably familiar with the phrase, “a team is only as good as the sum of its parts.”
Well at Comit Developers, we have a pretty awesome team—which means we have pretty awesome team members! We’re not above showing ourselves off, so we’re introducing a new series of blogs designed to reveal more about the faces behind the mask (er, screen) to help familiarize our audience with the wonderful developers that make us who we are.
To start, we sat down with a Comit Developers veteran, Lauren Woodall, to talk about all things design and development (as well as to discuss the joys of napping).
What is your role on the Comit Developers team?
Officially, I’m the Team Lead of Website Design & Development. This means I’m responsible for overseeing all facets of website design, mainly: user experience consideration, web & graphic design, web development, research, testing and quality assurance—as well as documenting reports and processes. So I’m kept pretty busy!
Unofficially, I got labeled as “The Pizzazzler” a few years back. I’m still not entirely sure what that means, but the title has a nice ring to it!
What does a typical day look like for you?
When I get to the office, I start the day by checking emails, planning projects, reviewing service tickets and checking Slack messages.
Then, I review my ongoing task list and prioritize assignments for the day. After that’s done, I get to work on whatever is needed—whether that’s designing the front-end or putting out fires in the back.
Of course, there’s also a lot of meetings with clients and team members scattered throughout the day. Some days are more hectic than others, but the time spent meeting with clients and collaborating with my team is an invaluable part of the design process.
What made you go into web design?
When I was a teenager I discovered that I could “view source” on a web page and examine all the individual building blocks of a website. After that, I was hooked and spent countless hours in Notepad reading, reworking and rearranging code.
Later on, while I was earning my associates degree in office systems, I took a desktop publishing course as part of my curriculum. The class had a real impact on me and I began researching more about graphic design and what I could pursue in related areas.
I’ve always leaned toward creative roles and love creating layouts and organizing information, so website design seemed like a natural career path for me. I’ve been in the industry for at least 12 years now (even longer if you count graphic design), so it’s safe to say that it’s been a good fit for me.
What’s your favorite part about what you do?
Creating a new design with a blank slate.
I like trying to solve the puzzle between a client’s needs and their website’s functionality. I enjoy listening to a client’s background and about their business, and then translating their goals into an attractive presentation.
But the best part comes after all of the initial interactions when I can actually sit at my computer and begin a new design. There’s something really satisfying about watching a site come together after I’ve imagined so many designs along the way.
Why should businesses choose Comit Developers?
I’ve been with Comit for over 9 years now, so I’ve had plenty of time to think about this. While there are a lot of reasons businesses should work with us, I think the best part about our team is our quality of work. Our team is very skilled at website design and support, and we take a lot of pride in the quality of our services—we work hard to develop great websites.
We’re also really good at working alongside businesses to function as part of their organization. It’s really satisfying watching our clients grow with time, and knowing that we’ve played a role in that growth.
What are your hobbies and interests?
I have a few!
Lately I’ve been into painting, sewing (not very well), photography, cooking, videogames… and napping, haha!
Would you rather never be stuck in traffic again, or never get another cold?
Ah, this is a good one!
I get sick often and am allergic to all of the things. Basically, I catch anything floating around, so if I could never get another cold again that’d be awesome! I’m picking ‘never get another cold’ for sure.
Don’t Sell Your Business Short
With the help of team members like Lauren, creating beautiful and functional business websites is what we do best. It’s why we’ve been so fortunate to have completed over 1,000 website projects in the last 15 years.
So if your business needs a high-performing website, or just some help making the site that you already have the best it can be, contact us today and we’ll help your business grow in ways you’d never imagine.
