vCard: Adam Spooner
Home: 5309 Brandermill Court Greensboro, NC 27407 US
Mobile: +1-646-620-6005
Email:
I intend to work hard, do good, design and develop well—using modern techniques, learn something new everyday, and treat others with the utmost respect.
The term most people use to describe my abilities is hybrid designer and developer, i.e., I am just as comfortable designing as I am developing. Each of my abilities below is ranked according to the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. The following key is here for your convenience:
I worked on a small team within the design organization. Our team handled a wide variety of tasks ranging from traditional product design to high-fidelity, fully functional prototypes to audio and video.
My team’s most prominent works were born of design sprints. One such product was Zoom Huddles. From the sprint, I created a fully functional, high fidelity prototype written in React. It was hosted on a server I set up in AWS. This prototype was also used on the main stage at our annual Zoom conference, Zoomtopia.
I was also responsible for all engineering tasks for the design team. I set up a system that allowed designers to have per user directory websites (i.e., tilde sites). The web server used NAS. This NAS device would automatically mount/unmount on the user’s personal computer based on VPN status, allowing them to simply drag-and-drop files to their website.
I wrote a program that manipulated all strings across a majority of Zoom’s products in order to transition to our newly adopted content style guidelines.
I created the Design System Team’s website using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. I stood the server up in AWS and used Okta for SSO.
I created an internal site for designers to share their work for casual reviews and inspiration. It was built using Ruby on Rails, ERB, Turbo, and Tailwind. I stood the server up in AWS and used Okta for SSO.
I created a plethora of exploratory, high-fidelity prototypes in React and React Native. I assisted in many audio projects (e.g., Zoom Meeting ringtones, notification sounds, etc.). And much more.
I worked on a team of two designers. We were responsible for the design of Keybase’s mobile and desktop clients, as well as the website. We supported iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. Our designs took the unique features of each OS into consideration.
Keybase’s clients were written in React and React Native, and I had the pleasure of also contributing to those codebases. I had the freedom to implement my own designs in React, often implementing the necessary backend components (written in Go).
I also wrote the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the last iteration of keybase.io, which was designed by a 3rd party.
Keybase was acquired by Zoom in May of 2020.
I worked on a small team within Slack, supporting our engineers to help them make Slack the amazing product it is. I helped build tools that communicated with GitHub Enterprise, JIRA, Zendesk, and multple Slack bots.
I inherited and maintained software that helped protect our internal systems, written in Go and nginx. I modeled a similar system that secured applications between our internal systems and a popular PaaS.
I had the privilege of working in PHP, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, and Python almost everyday.
I was responsible for the entire stack of Authentic Jobs and all its entities. I moved Authentic Jobs from fully-managed hosting to self-managed hosting on Linode where we had two web servers, a database server, and a node balancer. I upgraded our stack to PHP 7 during the process and saw noticeable performance gains. I built Authentic Pros with Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL using an API-driven approach. Shortbios.io consumed Authentic Pros’ API with Laravel 4. Perks.io consumed Authentic Jobs’ API with Laravel 4 too. Hired and The Jerry Can Collective were old-fashioned HTML with a sprinkling of PHP.
I got to brainstorm business ventures, help with our annual charity: water birthday drives, and use an aggressive amount of emoji in Slack. I also had the extreme pleasure of helping with customer support.
I was responsible for a variety of tasks including front-end development, back-end development, user experience design, visual design, and server setup and maintenance.
Oak has worked with many clients. I had the pleasure in helping build web sites for StudioBooth, Quarterly, Tattly, Dropmark, Let’s Swap, Working Not Working, CCOH, NASDAQ, and UNICEF.
I was responsible for all development and some design aspects of NewSpring Church’s web entities. I also administered our dedicated Red Hat Enterprise Linux server, which included setting up and maintaining Git and Subversion repositories, an Apache web server with virtual hosts, and other general system administration duties.
I built most of NewSpring’s web sites using the ExpressionEngine CMS, but I also created a few custom applications in PHP using the CodeIgniter framework.
Some of my proudest achievements were flawlessly migrating all of NewSpring’s web sites (including MySQL databases) from shared hosting to a dedicated server. I increased site performance by minifying and compressing (gzip compression) all CSS and JavaScript and serving static content from cookie-less domains. I streamlined the web team’s workflow by keeping code in a repository and writing a build process (in bash) that minifies, compresses, adds a version, and pushes all static content live.
I was responsible for the look and feel of all OkCupid’s web sites, including OkCupid, HelloQuizzy, and Crazy Blind Date. I was also responsible for the front-end code-base comprised of thousands of lines of code, and I managed a team of three front-end developers who reported directly to me. The occasional piece of printed paraphernalia, including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, and marketing materials was also my responsibility.
Some of my proudest achievements were converting our HTML to valid, standards-compliant markup; maintaing 4 translations, including Arabic; successfully leading a small team of front-end developers; and being responsible for the most successful and positively received—by the site’s users—redesign in the company’s history.
I designed the logo that is still in use to this day.
My parents are both computer geeks, so I was able to get an early start following in their footsteps. I’ve been designing and developing web sites since my junior year in high school. Since then, I’ve worked on quite a few freelance projects for weddings (print and web design), small businesses, and independent bands, most notably, Bishop Allen.
Adam blends creative design with clever engineering. A focused, self-driven, authentic partner in projects of any size.
Far and away the most trusted, most reliable, most proficient, and most important work colleague I’ve had in my career.
I’ve been working with designers for over ten years, and Adam would be my first pick for any project. He approaches each assignment with all the considerations it deserves: the business angle, the aesthetic goal, and the technical limitations of the medium. What he designs appeals to everyone around him, and he’s a pleasure to work with.
Relentless work ethic, self-management, a healthy desire to learn (inside and outside his core competencies), and meticulous attention to detail and craft—I’ve never worked with a better web developer. As a designer, I can trust that my pages will be built in pixel perfect fashion. As a strategist, I know I’ll get solid feedback and pushback from Adam where it’s needed. He’s a rare talent, elevating projects and teams.
Adam is a true polymath and contributed so much to Zoom, building on both his engineering and design background. Any team building ambitious products would be lucky to have Adam on it.
Adam has been so impressive and enjoyable to work with that I’d give my left arm to be able to work with him more closely again.
Adam was a tremendous contributor to our company. He led by example, demonstrating a tireless work ethic and dedication to excellence in his work. His managers, colleagues, and direct reports uniformly praised his interpersonal skills and greatly enjoyed working with him. Adam also positively impacted everyone’s morale, making the office a more positive and enjoyable place for others to work.
Adam defines the perfect employee. He is motivated by his aggressive work ethic which helps define his imitable character. His code is efficient and clean. I really appreciate his contrarian nature which brings freshness to stock situations. His wit and personality make him a joy to be around both at work and at play. I am quite happy I know Adam.