A bit about Des
I enjoy designing applications and experiences for people. I love taking bulky gray old crappy software and re-designing it, so that it looks amazing, and works really well for the people who use it. That’s what I do.
I like to write. I keep two blogs, the Contrast blog (updates frequently), and my personal blog (infrequently).
A little bit more
I’m 28 years old. I live in Dublin. I studied Computer Science & Software Engineering in NUI Maynooth. I really enjoy programming, but I don't do much of it anymore. After completing my degree, I worked as a postgraduate researcher. I published papers in the area of Computer Science Education and worked as a lecturer for 3 years.
A tiny bit more
I love meeting people. If you've just arrived here, say hi to me. My address is destraynor [at] gmail [dot] com. I play guitar really badly, but don't worry, I won't bring one to your party. When I'm not working, I play soccer & swim. I also read books a lot on my daily commute to work.
I am the User Experience lead at Contrast. If you need help with Usability, User experience, or web application design/development come talk to us. We'll solve your problems and leave you smiling. We're pretty good.
My day to day work in Contrast involves meeting clients & their customers to gain a full understanding of the business. Then I design the customer experience that will be most profitable in the long term. This is what I do. If you like the sounds of it, talk to us.
If you want to talk to me about a particular project you’d like help with, my work address is des at contrast dot ie.
Before Contrast, I was a senior analyst at iQ Content, Irelands largest usability firm. Previous to that I worked as a lecturer and researcher in NUI Maynooth.
Interests & Links
When I don’t have a keyboard in front of me, I enjoy playing soccer, walking/hiking, playing guitar, and going for nights out in Dublin with friends. I read all sorts of books, but my favoutite trash novels are cop vs killer ones. As a commuter I get to read a lot of blogs. Here’s the semi-current list
On other sites
I have the username destraynor on the majority of modern web applications. The ones I check often are listed here.
