Liz Daly

User focused web developer with a background in marketing for the arts and culture sector. I am interested in usability and accessibility and have strong experience in helping shape user requirements.

Tech skills

I am a quick learner of languages and frameworks. I believe that simple, well-documented and maintainable code is more important than language specialism.

JavaScript: ES6, TypeScript, Angular, React, Jest, Jasmine, Testing Library, Playwright
CSS: SCSS (Sass), CSS3, Bootstrap, Responsive designs
HTML: Semantic mark-up, accessibility following WAI-Aria Standards
C#: ASP.NET Core, LINQ, Entity Framework Core, XUnit, Nunit, Fluent Assertions
Ruby: Ruby on Rails, Sinatra, RSpec, Capybara
Other: Git, Azure, Docker, Xcode, Swagger, SQL Server, Travis CI, CircleCI, pair programming, test driven development, peer reviews

Other skills

Collaborator: I am at my happiest working on projects that require cross-team collaboration, particularly with user researchers, designers, product owners, web developers and business analysts. I ask lots of questions and regularly present demos to clients and key stakeholders.
User focused: My communications experience has given me a passion for perfecting user experience, and championing inclusive design. I regularly take part in product research and co-design sessions with users, as I believe having a fuller understanding of user needs leads to a better technical solution.
Process driven: Whilst learning to code at Makers I rediscovered my love for a good diagram. You can find some examples of my approach to developing solutions in my READMEs. I prefer to develop using TDD.
Rapid learner: I learn new languages and technologies quickly. At Cognizant I learnt Angular, .NET and Ionic for projects. At dxw, I have honed my testing practices using Playwright, mutation testing and axe-core to improve my tests. I taught myself Ruby and Rails before taking a 3 month boot camp with Makers to learn software engineering best practices, and have picked up new tooling regularly throughout my marketing career and architecture education.
Creative: I have a keen eye for design thanks to my background in architecture and design. I keep an open conversation with our UX teams to ensure consistent and usable design across our apps.

Project experience

dxw - Developer

January 2023-present

I develop server rendered applications in line with dxw's technology principles which implement the GOV.UK design system and prioritise user needs, accessibility and maintainability.

Delivering a new Application Programming Interface (API) to enable easier access to and analysis of UK Parliament's Members' Register of Financial Interests, as well as improved access for members of the public via the Parliament website.
Launched the private beta of new internal product Find information about academies and trusts for the Department of Education, which helped relieve the team reliance on legacy technology. The project achieved a high System Usability Score (SUS), received glowing feedback in an early accessibility audit and has since gone into public beta.
Helped build and write content for dxw's first iteration of our accessibility manual.

Cognizant - Associate

September 2020-December 2023

Supporting the national roll-out of several key products for Network Rail as part of Intelligent Infrastructure—a five-year transformation programme focused on providing maintenance teams the insight they need to predict and prevent faults before they cause delays.

Full stack development on a new asset management tool for signalling relays. I led on frontend development, and took the opportunity to learn C# and .NET so that I could work across the Angular frontend application and ASP.NET Core API.
Mobile development (Angular with Ionic) for a new application to support maintenance testing, moving from paper forms to a digital process.
Led on designing the User Acceptance Testing phase for the rollout of new features with users.
Presented regular live demonstrations of new features to client and key stakeholders.

Previous Experience

Waltham Forest Council - Project Lead, Communications Officer

November 2017-December 2019 (with a travel break)

Oversaw the launch of an online culture hub for the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Managed digital content and promotion before and during Waltham Forest's year as the first London Borough of Culture in 2019.

New Designers - Marketing Manager

May-July 2019

Stepped in to deliver the final stages of the marketing campaign for New Designers 2019 - the UK's #1 graduate design exhibition.

Media 10 - Marketing Manager

February 2013-October 2017 (Marketing Manager from 2016)

Produced tailored, data-driven campaigns for renowned trade events including Clerkenwell Design Week, 100% Design, Design Shanghai.

Worked with external and internal web development teams to manage new and existing websites for our growing portfolio, across a variety of web content management systems.

KGD Architecture - Architectural Assistant

March - September 2012. Bangalore, India

Responsible for concepts, 3D modelling and pitching documents.

Education

Makers Academy

January-April 2020

A 12-week intensive software development course focusing on object oriented design, agile working methodologies, test driven development and language agnostic learning.

University of Manchester

September 2008- June 2011

BA (Hons) Architecture 2:1