don demrow - expert answers to your UI, SEO, and web problems.
I specialize in UI (User Interface) Design, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), web design, development of database driven websites, applications, content management systems, corporate intranet applications, usability, accessibility, and search engine strategy for corporate entities, small businesses, and non-profit organizations.I have worked for some of the best companies on the planet, and there's a reason for that - it is because I care enough to do the kind of work that leaders in their respective industries expect.
I started my internet design career in early 1998, in Munich, Germany while still attending college for Computer Management/Information Services. I worked for top-tier companies there, until I came back to my home state of Wisconsin near the end of 2000.
More than 10 years of user-centered design / information architecture and development experience in the USA and Europe has given me the expertise necessary to offer the design, the usability, and the functionality your company needs. You can only get this from a seasoned, senior UI web designer/developer.
I have an extensive proven track record in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and I am a strong proponent of usability, section 508 accessibility, and adherence to validation and coding standards (W3C) and practices that facilitate cross-browser compatibility.
You can open my online portfolio here, or visit my links page to see some of the latest things I have been working on.
Good design is a cross between art and efficiency - a blending of principles that could be thought of as analagous to customer service plus ergonomics.
The most important thing in UI design for commercial business is that a prospective customer does not get so discouraged with the interface that they give up - the interface must be usable. There's no profit in partial transactions.
Statistics show that if a user has to wait more than eight seconds for an website to fully render, they will most likely leave.
Further, it doesn't matter how good your user interface is, if nobody can find it - an aggressive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan is essential to any company that hopes to be in business 5 years from now.
UI is "User Interface" and is simply the name given to what a user (or "actor" as referred to in the world of usability) interacts with in the application. There are logical elements that are integral to the UI, and there are graphic elements to the design - this is where the term GUI or "Graphical User Interface" comes from.
UCD means "User Centered Design," and represents a conceptual milestone in the field of usability - simply by its existence, the term suggests that User Centered Design is, in fact, gaining the recognition it deserves.
You can read my "Usability and Intuitive Design" article here, or download it in MS Word here. (document size: 42KB)
I only engage in what are known as "white hat" SEO practices. There is no justification for trying to cheat the search engines - even if such practices can yield a short-term improvement in SERP (Search Engine Result Pages) ratings, "black hat" SEO techniques will, over the long term, result in being penalized by the legitimate search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Lycos. The bottom line is, it does not pay to try to gain an unfair advantage.
The best advice I give my clients is, BE RELEVANT. That will yield better search engine results than anything else! If you compose well-written text about wizzy-widgets, you will be found by users conducting searches for "wizzy-widgets."
By the time I had lived in the Cincinnati area for only five weeks, I had achieved very good search engine results for terms such as "UI Cincinnati" and "SEO Expert Cincinnati". Here are some of those results, which still stand today. This underscores the importance of using legitimate, or "white hat" techniques.
I'll let the results speak for themselves:
- Google results for "UI SEO" - #1 of 585,000 (02/13/2008)
- Google results for "UI Cincinnati" - #1 of 197,000 (02/13/2008)
- Yahoo results for "UI SEO" - #1 of 4,490,000 (02/13/2008)
- Yahoo results for "SEO Expert Cincinnati" - #1 of 576,000 (02/13/2008)
One of my latest projects will be officially unveiled in the next few weeks in banks across the USA - it is the AGR Renter's Insurance 3-step quick-quote application. A prototype can be seen here.
Sorry, I am not accepting any freelance clients at this time. Please do me the courtesy of not asking.
I have left American Modern Insurance Group (AMIG) and I will be beginning an exciting career at Citicards in Blue Ash, OH as their Human Factors Engineer.
I had been hired on at AMIG Midland, in Amelia, Ohio, as the Lead UI Designer. (You can read the press release here.)
My position at AMIG was a fascinating opportunity for me to do some important work in the usability field, and implement many of the innovations I have come up with over the years that involve intuitive navigation, and the optimized user experience. I expect that my time at citicards will be even more exciting!
Those people who know me know that I place great importance on the practice of good UI design, and on creating a good user experience, by applying good design practices to result in an intuitive user interface.
It is all about the user, after all.
Yours in usability,
Don Demrow
© 2001 - don demrow, euro-innova web design, all rights reserved
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© 2001 - don demrow, euro-innova web design, all rights reserved
