Hey there,
I’m Ara Abcarians
I've spent the last 15 years building delightful interactive experiences for the web. I'm especially passionate about leading teams, HTML & CSS, JavaScript, web performance optimization, and design systems.
Hi, I’m Ara
I build delightful interactive experiences on the Jamstack. My happy place is at the intersection of Design & Development.
Kandji
Most recently, I was Web Development Manager at Kandji, a hyper growth SaaS startup. While there, I led a nimble team of developers to continuously optimize and improve Kandji's marketing website to drive growth.
Kandji Website Redesign & Replatforming
Under an aggressive timeline, I led the architectural transition from Webflow to the Jamstack, utilizing Netlify, Eleventy, Alpine.js, and Tailwind CSS. This was part of a larger complete brand refresh to elevate Kandji from a start-up to a trusted technology partner. We increased our mobile lighthouse score by 50% and achieved a perfect desktop score through continuous web performance optimization.
Tools & Tech:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js, GSAP, Node.js, 11ty, Netlify, HubSpot, Figma
Bluebeam, Inc
As the Sr. Manager of Web Development at Bluebeam, I led a talented team of engineers as we maintained and evolved Bluebeam's global core interactive experiences.
Bluebeam Global Responsive Website
Bluebeam's website redesign was a massive ground-up rebuild and replatforming. As the lead developer, I established coding best practices for the team, setup a proper workflow and deploy process, and leveraged Grav CMS to simplify the platform and increase speed, security, and scalability. The Bluebeam website is localized for 13 different languages using Smartling's GDN service.
Tools & Tech:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, GSAP, PHP, Gulp, Grav CMS
Bluprnt: Design System & Front-end Framework
Bluebeam's website had previously been filled with mixed design patterns and was incredibly hard to manage. I knew we needed to establish consistency and build things the right way, so I worked with a designer to create the company's first design system. From that, I built out a custom front-end framework that's been used on a variety of Bluebeam's online properties. The workshop area is built with Jekyll, and the storefront is built on zeroheight.
Tools & Tech:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, NPM, Netlify, Gulp, Jekyll, Figma
(mt) Media Temple
As a UX Manager/Engineer at Los Angeles based web hosting company, Media Temple, I led the front-end development of the 2013 responsive redesign. I collaborated with designers and developers to create the company’s first design system and living styleguide.
Media Temple was acquired by GoDaddy in 2014.
Media Temple Website
Leading the front-end development of the Media Temple website redesign was one of the most rewarding projects I've ever worked on. Working closely with our internal creative team as well as the talented designers of Character in San Fransisco, I developed a mobile-first front-end framework and started the company's first internal living style guide and design system.
Tools & Tech:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Statamic CMS
Media Temple Account Center
Though it was among the better looking admin dashboards in the web hosting space, a redesign of (mt)'s Account Center was long overdue. Used by over 150,000 customers, it was one of the most daunting projects I've ever been a part of. It required extensive research and planning, modernizing code on 450+ pages, and countless iterations.
Tools & Tech:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, React JS, Perl, Template Toolkit
Huge, Inc
At Huge, I had the honor and privilege of working with some of the best creative leaders and engineers in the game. I worked as a Sr. Web Developer on multiple large-scale projects against impossible deadlines. I’m proud to have worked with some incredible brands during my journey.
Clients:
American University, FX Networks, ABC, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Beats by Dre, MasterCard, Nintendo, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Disney, Dell, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Golf Channel, Vizio, Miramax, Samsung
