This is the website of Ben Ellis, a freelance Information Architect (IA), Web Developer and Interface Designer based in North Essex in the South East of England.
I am Director of Hungry Browser Limited, a User Experience Consultancy that works with a range of clients across the UK. I am also a dedicated surfer, qualified BSA Level 1 Surf Instructor and RLSS Beach Lifeguard.
Check out my services, business values and philosophy, view the projects I have been involved with and read my blog for some stories (mostly about surfing - no surprises there!).
If you have a project you would like to engage me on please complete the RFP document or download my credentials below.
I am available for new opportunities as of late March 2010. If you would like to contact me then please email me (using the contact form) and I will respond as soon as possible.
Following on from my tinkering with Dashcode at the weekend I thought I would try my hand at developing a simple widget for OS X dashboard. The widget simply takes the most recent posts from my website and feeds an excerpt in via RSS. Users can adjust the length of each article. Clicking on a headline takes the user to the respective article on my website.
Download the widget (you will need to be running a Mac with OS X 10.4.3 or higher).
The final project I was involved with this summer whilst freelancing at Dare Digital was the redevelopment of The FA (The Football association) website. I worked alongside Richard Blair to develop the sitemap and wireframes and had direct input into the user experience. Richard being an open-minded kind of guy agreed to let me work in OmniGraffle (on the Mac) and then export it to Visio at the end of the project. The result of this was a beautiful looking IA document!
Richard and I worked with the design and account teams at Dare and had direct contact with the client through meetings. We presented work to the client and engaged in valuable discussions to guide the client to create a usable and  rewarding user experience, both for The FA and users of the website.
To redevelop the entire FA website user experience and increase the level of participation from users, both on the website and through social networks.
On the whole The FA went very smoothly, both internally and externally. Challenges included guiding the design team on usability and accessibility issues and trying to balance those needs with creating an engaging design. The account team also needed a little discipline at times to keep the project on the right track and to actually come to decisions on certain pieces of site functionality and features.
The new website is due to go live some time later on this year.
Whilst working at Dare Digital this summer I was involved with the redevelopment of the user experience for the forthcoming global website relaunch. I worked alongside the in-house IA, design and account teams to develop the documentation for the site (Wireframes, Sitemaps etc.). I also attended internal and external meetings and conference calls with the client.
To redevelop the entire Sony Ericsson website user experience and position Sony Ericsson products at the centre of this experience.
As I joined the project three months after the launch date there was a lot of catching up to do. This took time and effort, but eventually I was comfortable leading internal meetings and making decisions that effected the direction of the IA and design.
On a slightly less serious point, the entire project documentation was produced using Visio. This was a real pain in the a**e as I am a Mac person and have a strong belief in making anything look as good as possible. This simply can’t be done efficiently and without a lot of headaches in Visio. Needless to say I wasn’t a happy bunny for the 4 or 5 weeks that I was involved with this project, but sometimes you have to bite your tongue and get on with it.
The new website is due to go live some time later on this year.
Web design and development for McKinlay Kidd Ltd.
User experience and IA development whilst at Dare Digital.
User experience and IA development whilst at Dare Digital.
User experience and IA development whilst at Dare Digital.
User experience and IA development whilst at Dare Digital.
Assisting with IA development whilst at Dare Digital.
IA and front end web development whilst at Preloaded.
IA pitch whilst working for an Olympic roster design agency.
IA pitch whilst working for a top London design agency.
Competitive analysis whilst working for Bostock and Pollitt.
A revamped and refreshed website.
User experience and IA development for Duke UK.
Front end web development for Duke UK.
WordPress site development (PHP, CSS and JavaScript) for Duke UK.
IA, interface design and web development.
Redeveloping the front-end code and optimising the user interface.
Part of the discovery IA whilst working on the Freeview redesign.
Part of the IA I created for the Heinz website redesign pitch.
Part of the IA I created for the Freeview website redesign.
Wireframes for the launch of the new Sony HD website.
Restructuring Digital UK ready for CMS migration.
Examing the UXP elements of the Freeview website.
Where and when to use IA deliverables.
When should IA be inolved in a web dev project.
IA and web strategy for BT Vision
IA and web strategy for BT Anywhere
IA and web strategy for London Capital Group
