An Interview with Melbourne Web Developer Isaac Williams
Isaac Williams hasn't had a CV since he attended university at RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), but he's rarely gone a day without work. The 25-year-old web developer and freelancer has worked for a variety of people and organisations, from startups, to DT Digital (a subgroup of the world renowned advertising agency Ogilvy) to our very own Headjam. Isaac has been programming and building websites for nearly a decade, and he brought us key insight to the world of web design.
"I like things that people interact with," Isaac said on web developing. "The web is a great medium for creating interactive experiences that are super easy to access."
When he begins a new job, his first thought is always 'what does it feel like to use? What does it feel like to scroll or to push a button or to watch an object bounce.' Isaac likes programming because you can develop the way a person sees, hears and touches.
"I'm always thinking, what will make the people who use this happy," Isaac said. "What will feel good?"
For Isaac, it's critical to always think about the user experience, and as this is always changing, he stays busy.
"Design is hard," he said.
Isaac grew up in country Victoria, and he's called Melbourne home for many years now. He currently lives in the suburb of Thornbury with his girlfriend and two housemates. He first started working with Headjam via Luke and Sarah in Melbourne in 2009, and he has collaborated with them on heaps of projects ever since.
"I like to freelance because I'm not very good at having a job," he said. "I get burned out at having to do the same thing."
Isaac continues to gain knowledge in a rapidly changing field. Animation is one of the skills needed to make games, so Isaac opted to study this in uni, rather than computer programming which he already knew so well. However, once he finished his degree, he quickly returned to the world of programming with his new animation skills.
"I've always been a programer," Isaac said. "I'm happiest when I'm dug into code and ignoring everything else. I like to sit in my room and make games without anyone else's help."
Isaac has plenty of weeks where he works 40+ hours, but he also takes days off as often as he feels like. When he's not freelancing, he's always got a game he's working on that he's "never going to finish", and he's also working on a a custom built RSS blog-reading app purely for himself. He's especially stoked about this one, as his design choices are solely based on his own user experience.
Isaac was up in Newcastle this week working with Headjam, and not only did he teach us a few great card games, he also shared a few of his favourite blogs, including Daring Fireball, Marco.org, Shut Up & Sit Down, Daniel Solis, Design Work LIfe and Grain Edit. We really appreciate his time and creativity working with us, and we can't wait to collaborate more in the near future!
