What is Richard Westenra's website (richardwestenra.com)?

Updated

richardwestenra.com is the personal portfolio and blog of Richard Westenra, a Christchurch-based front-end developer and web designer. It is the place to see his client work, interactive data visualisations and web applications, read his articles and linkblog, and find a way to get in touch. It is most useful if you want to evaluate his work or writing, or contact him about a project.

Who runs the site

The site belongs to Richard Westenra, who describes himself as a Christchurch-based front-end developer with more than twelve years of experience. His stated specialities are interactive data-visualisation and responsive, performant web applications. He often works with React and D3, and says he is interested in accessibility, open web standards and usability.

A few background details from the site:

  • He is an alumnus of McKinsey and a former codebar organiser.
  • After a decade in London, he is back in New Zealand and, at the time of writing, looking for remote work.
  • His work has been featured in publications including The Huffington Post.

What you can find there

The site is organised around a few kinds of content.

Client work

A long list of client projects, mostly interactive data-driven pieces, with the client and year noted. Examples include:

Project Client Year
Ventures of the PayPal Mafia Fleximize 2016
Very British Attitudes to Money Totally Money 2016
The View From Here Somfy 2015
The Gender Pay Gap Michael Page 2015
The Food Capitals of Instagram Photoworld 2015
The minimum payment trap Totally Money 2015
Got Rhythm? Concert Hotels 2015
How big is Snapchat? Photoworld 2015
What we really value Totally Money 2015
If the UK were 100 Businesses Simply Business 2015
Difficult Second Album Syndrome Concert Hotels 2015
By the book: What age did the greatest authors publish their most famous works? Blinkbox Books 2015
Beyond the Bay: Comparing the world's top startup ecosystems Simply Business 2014
Charting the Careers of Music's Biggest Stars Concert Hotels 2014
If You Printed All The Instagram Pics Uploaded in a Year Photoworld 2014
How Adventurous Are You? Travelex 2014
What Career Is Right For Me? Rasmussen College 2014
The Minimal Music Quiz Concert Hotels 2013
Name That Uniform Blue Cotton 2013
The Capacity of an iPod Visualized as Vinyl Concert Hotels 2013
90's Nostalgia Quiz Two Little Fleas 2013
Which TV Series Should I Watch Next? CableTV.com 2013
What Career Should I Choose? Rasmussen College 2013
The Career Aptitude Test Rasmussen College 2013

Articles and a linkblog

There is an "Articles & things" section, plus a linkblog with entries such as "Lost in translation: a primer for cultural differences in design and analytics" and "Inside OpenAI, Elon Musk's Wild Plan to Set Artificial Intelligence Free".

Testimonials

The homepage carries short quotes about him from The Huffington Post, from Jo Franchetti (front-end developer, Distilled), and a lighter one from a flatmate.

When it is worth visiting

  • You want to see examples of interactive data-visualisation and responsive web app work, with the client and year attached.
  • You are assessing his writing or his technical interests (React, D3, accessibility, open web standards, usability).
  • You want to contact him — the site includes a "Get in touch!" prompt for reaching out.

If you are looking for a product, pricing or a service you can sign up for, this is not that kind of site; it is a personal portfolio and blog.