Selected Works
From designer to programmer to project manager, I have held many different roles over the years. Here is a brief sampling of some of the major projects I have worked on during my career.
Sheryl and Peter
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When my wife-to-be and I got engaged, we wanted to create a fun and unique way for our guests to RSVP to our wedding that didn't involve cards and stamps.
My wife (also a Web developer) did the art while I took care of the coding. In order to prevent random Internet strangers from entering in their info, I created a database-driven RSVP system so that only our invited guests were able to RSVP, let us know if their guests were coming, and make their meal selections.
You can see the form in action by visiting the site and using my name (and any email address) in the RSVP section.
I had a lot of fun working on this project.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- JSON
- PHP
- MySQL
- Google Maps API
- Completed
- 2011
- See the Site
- www.sherylandpeter.com
CheapAir.com
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CheapAir is an online travel agency with over a million visitors per month. In the highly competitive world of travel booking, every potential customer counts, and getting them to stick around and search was key.
As part of the Web Development team, I worked on improving the efficiency and user-friendliness of the homepage. Many minor but important usability tweaks were implemented.
Once the revised homepage was deployed, the results were immediate — user bounce rates dropped by over 15%. Proof that seemingly small changes can lead to big results.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- .NET
- Photoshop
- Completed
- 2011
CheapAir Email Campaigns
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With tens of thousand email subscribers, CheapAir badly needed a refresh of their antiquated email templates into something much more modern and engaging that would get people clicking.
I completely redesigned the templates for CheapAir's various email campaigns and brought a newfound consistency in style and messaging. The new designs were more colorful, cheerful, and most importantly, more click-enticing.
In the new Vacation Picks email design, a basic list of selected deals was replaced with a design that had much more engaging destination photos. In addition, certain deals were given prominence and highlighted, creating a sense of importance and urgency.
The new emails were a success, leading to significant increases in click-throughs and PPC revenue.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- Photoshop
- Completed
- 2011
Schoolnet Instructional Management Suite (IMS)
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Schoolnet is a leading provider of data-driven education software for U.S. public school districts. As the lead front-end developer, I worked closely with the User Experience (UX) and Programming teams to build the front-end interface of the main IMS product utilizing standards-based code to ensure cross-platform compatibility.
In addition to my code work, I assisted UX in designing the user interface for new product features and advised product managers on usability issues. I also actively analyzed development processes and devised suggestions and solutions that improved efficiency and productivity.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- .NET
- Visual Studio
- Photoshop
- Process analysis
- Completed
- 2010
Schoolnet.com
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Shortly after I arrived at Schoolnet, the company decided to relaunch its main web site as a destination for the K-12 education community.
I worked with senior management and our UX team to come up with a design and developed prototypes for testing. I built standards-based XHTML/CSS templates for each section of the site that were used to implement the final production version.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Photoshop
- Completed
- 2008
- See the Site
- www.schoolnet.com
NYU Stern Advantage
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Stern Advantage was a summer business program at the NYU Stern Undergraduate College. I was tasked with creating a web site to help promote and disseminate information about the program. Although it was an independent site, it was important to maintain visual consistency with the overall Stern site's color scheme.
Working in close conjunction with the Director of the program, I was solely responsible for all development aspects of the project. This included designing multiple comps in Photoshop for review; building the information architecture; developing prototypes; conducting usability testing; and finally, implementing the final product in code.
- Production
- Web design
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Information architecture
- Usability testing
- Photoshop
- Fireworks
- Completed
- 2007
- See the Site
- The site is no longer available, but you can view samples below.
- peterching.com/portfolio/samples/sternadvantage/
NYU Stern Undergraduate College
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The Undergraduate College at NYU Stern was looking to overhaul their site with a modern design that would be more in-line with the rest of Stern's network of sites.
Using the guidelines I had created for the main NYU Stern site (see below), the goals were to give the Undergraduate site a more appealing design and make information easily accessible for all potential audiences. I was responsible for all development work on the project that resulted in a fresh new look for the Undergraduate College.
- Production
- Web design
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Information architecture
- Usability testing
- Photoshop
- Fireworks
- Completed
- 2005
NYU Stern School of Business
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New York University's Stern School of Business is one of the top business schools in the world. One of the largest projects I worked on during my time there was the complete redesign of the school's web presence. Working in collaboration with Stern's Public Relations team, we brought a newfound visual consistency to the Stern online brand that was dessiminated down throughout the school's network of sites.
As the technical lead for this undertaking, I worked closely with an outside design agency in coming up with the site's new design. Once the PSD comps were finalized, I turned the design into functional, standards-based XHTML/CSS code. I also created a Style Guide based on the design that would help propagate changes downstream and guide the development of future sites under the Stern banner.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Web design
- Photoshop
- Fireworks
- Completed
- 2004
NYU Stern School of Business - Department Sites
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With the amount of information on NYU Stern's various web sites growing exponentially, the school decided to transfer their sites into a content management system. As part of this move, a redesign was also ordered so that the indepedently built department sites would be brought together in visual cohesion.
I worked with representatives from each department to devise new information architectures for their sites that made their content much more accessible and extensible. Once completed, I built the templates to be integrated into the eMPower Web CMS that was selected for content management.
- Production
- XHTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Information architecture
- Web design
- Photoshop
- Fireworks
- ColdFusion
- eMPower Web CMS
- Completed
- 2003