MyCotn.com
Hi, I’m Mike. I design user experiences.
You can browse a few samples.
Mobile
Over the past year I began designing user interfaces and coding HTML5/CSS3 for mobile devices. I draw from over ten of experience designing and programming discs and touchscreen kiosks.
Close ProjectAgentAdvantage mobile websites (2010) This project is the re-envisioning of a traditional real estate agent’s website for display on mobile devices. My roles in this project included project management, user interface design, and front-end development (HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery).
Websites
I have created many websites throughout my career. Whether leading a team or working independently, my role usually involves several aspects of user experience design including information architecture, user interface design, and front-end development. A few samples are listed below.
Close ProjectHomes.com (2007) With up to 5 million unique visitors per month, Homes.com is consistently one of the top 10 national real estate portals. My roles in this project included information architecture, user interface design, and art direction.
Close ProjectAgentAdvantage.com (2009) AgentAdvantage is the agent website provider for Homes.com, and when the two companies divided into separate businesses, I helped design the new site for AgentAdvantage. My roles in this project included information architecture, user interface design, and front-end development.
Close ProjectART4925c (2009) I taught a Web I section in Florida State’s School of Art & Design. I designed this site for the class and used it to coordinate class projects and the schedule for the semester.
Close ProjectPowerSearch Detail Page (2009) This is a detail page concept for a PowerSearch SEM site. My roles on this project included user interface design and front-end development.
Control Panels
I have designed the user interface for a variety of control panels including content management systems (CMS), customer relationship management systems (CRM), and learning management systems (LMS).
Close ProjectAgentAdvantage control panel (2008) My roles on this project included product development, information architecture, and user interface design.
Close ProjectAgentAdvantage control panel (2008) This is the Listings Manager for the AgentAdvantage control panel.
Close ProjectHomes.com Dashboard (2011) I led the UI design for the new Homes.com control panel.
Close ProjectRE/MAX (2010) I led the UI design for a new prototype of the RE/MAX control panel.
Templates
I have created custom website templates for a variety of content management systems including WordPress, Joomla!, ExpressionEngine, and several propriety real estate CMS engines.
Close ProjectBig Bend Habitat for Humanity (2008) Big Bend Habitat for Humanity is the area affiliate for North Florida. My roles in this project included user interface design, Flash-based slide shows, and the creation of a custom Joomla! template.
Close ProjectBarry Bevis Real Estate (2008) This custom template was created to be used in the AgentAdvantage CMS. My roles in this project included user interface design and front-end development.
Close ProjectTyler Turkle (2008) This custom WordPress template was created for artist and filmmaker Tyler Turkle. My roles in this project included user interface design and front-end development.
Close ProjectN1E Agent Site (2010) This template was created to be used in the NUMBER1EXPERT CMS. My roles in this project included user interface design and front-end development.
Kiosks & Discs
I began my career designing user interfaces for disc-based media and touchscreen kiosks. This experience has proven to be very useful as I move into interface designs for devices like the iPad.
Logos & Icons
I’m occasionally asked to design logos, come up with names for products, and illustrate icons. The following samples include some of this work over the years.
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Mobile
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Websites
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Control Panels
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Templates
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Kiosks & Discs
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Logos & Icons
And see how I work.
Conversations & Sketches
The entire process is iterative and usually begins with a conversation involving where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’d like to be. In short order we’ll be busy at work getting you there – interviewing customers, diagramming and mapping, organizing sticky notes, drafting personas, and sketching in a notebook.
Wireframes & Prototypes
The previous steps are then distilled into a rough organizational blueprint (or wireframe) of the application. These map out high-level items such as site structure, navigation, identity, and areas for primary and supplemental content. Once completed, the wireframes are stitches together into a simple working prototype.
Comps & Coding
All of the elements then come together into a final design. Style can be refined with mood boards, and level of polish is added to each view of the application. Once completed, the design is broken down into semantic structure as HTML. The presentation layer is added with CSS, and interaction behaviors are added with JavaScript.
Read a bit more of my story.
Experience at a glance:
- Design team leadership and product management
- Information architecture, wireframing and prototyping
- Front-end design and development for web apps and mobile devices
- Front-end development – HTML, CSS & Javascript
- Design for CMS and CRM applications
- Icon and logo design
I’ve been designing interfaces for over 20 years, and though I didn’t expect to stay in Tallahassee beyond my days using HyperCard as an undergrad at FSU, my entire career has been shaped within Florida’s capital city. I cut my teeth as a designer at a company named Interlight Productions, and despite that fact that both the company and the CD-i technology we used are now-defunct, the principles I learned (and wife that I met on the job) remain with me to this day. A Masters Degree focusing on New Media Communication and several years designing and authoring CD-ROMs and kiosks for clients like GlaxoSmithKline, Ziff-Davis, and BellSouth followed. In the late-90s my work shifted almost entirely to designing for the Web.
After the first of our four children was born, I became an early-bird. I currently start work days in my home office with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, helping small businesses and non-profits with their websites. Some of my more recent clients include Big Bend Habitat for Humanity, Tyler Turkle, and CenterPoint. 
From time to time I teach as an adjunct professor at Florida State University, lead relief projects, and serve as an advisor at Keiser University. In 2006 I founded Refresh Tallahassee – a group of local web designers and developers which has since grown to a Meetup group of over 170 members.
By day I lead a team of designers at Dominion Enterprises – particularly the web services group of Homes.com. The main focus of our work is interface design for enterprise-level web applications, portals, content management systems, and website templates for the real estate industry. We also work closely with our marketing team on product websites, landing pages, email marketing, trade show booths, and the occasional logo design.
Drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you!
Mike Houghton
3790 Piney Grove Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32311
USA
850-212-4044
mike@mycotn.com
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