DEV Community: Jamie Ferrugiaro

Part 1: Planning the NGO's Amman Imman's Webpage Re-Design

Jamie Ferrugiaro — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 14:43:52 +0000

Transparency Disclaimer: I am a self-taught marketer that has been working remotely in a volunteer position at a non-profit for around 4 years. My full-time job is in Accounts Receivables.

I honestly debated with myself about reposting this here (which I originally posted on Medium) because of my inexperience and the non-existent code factor involved in my work on it.

But I recently saw Ali Spittle talk about writing blog posts here during Codelands, and now I feel inspired to write again.

Although I am currently taking a coding Bootcamp at Rutgers University for Full Stack web development, at the time of writing this blog post I had no previous coding experience. You can read about that in this post here:

I Joined A Coding Bootcamp (And Here's Why)

Jamie Ferrugiaro ・ Apr 24 '19

#beginners #career #codenewbie #webdev

I volunteer part-time as a volunteer Digital Marketing Manager for the non-profit Amman Imman, an NGO that works in West Africa in the Azawak valley (a remote rural region that spans the countries of Niger and Mali).

Amman Imman supports children and families who, due to climate change, suffer dramatically from water scarcity with WASH programs (Water, and Sanitation, Hygiene), food security, economic security and women’s empowerment programs.

I work remotely in New Jersey, USA interacting mainly with the Associate Director, Debbie Khan, who is located in Maryland, and the Founder Ariane Kirtley, who is located in France.

The Project: The ‘Water is Education’ Borehole-Well

This project is a very big deal for Amman Imman, in more ways than I am even allowed to write in this blog post (for security and other reasons). What I can tell you is that we will be constructing a borehole-well, which is the type of project that’s at the core of what AI does as a non-profit.

In far too simplified terms, think of a borehell-well as really deep solar-powered mechanical well. This borehole-well will provide clean, sustainable water for up to 40,000 animals and people.

Suffice to say, it’s pretty bad-ass.

This project had a difficult birth between the many variables such as budget, funding, logistics, and partnerships. By the time we had a definite yes this is going to happen and I came on board, it was already getting late in the game for marketing.

Our main target audience for fundraising are schools through a program we run called Wells of Love. In particular, it focuses on ages up to high school with some college-age students as well. Because of this, when we reach out to schools to create fundraising campaigns for our projects the time frame is normally within that particular school year.

When we started brainstorming our marketing strategy in January, we knew the project’s total cost would be well over $300K. To the date of this blog post, it is now at $340K Euros or $385 USD.

🙀 No pressure, right?

Our Goal: Website Design And UX Overhaul

After some discussion, I advised our best course of action should be to redesign their current pages for the project on the website to make them easier to read, navigate, and encourage more call-to-actions.

Why a redesign?

This was the first location for information about the project people would see online, regardless of whatever in-person interaction we had with potential school partners, so it should be a high priority.

My first goal was to do an assessment of the current page setups. At this stage, the current version on the site included two separate pages. An information page about the project and a sign-up page on the platform we use for CRM and fundraising, Salsa.

Amman Imman’s Homepage

The first step I took was evaluating how easily a visitor could find information about the project on the homepage.

Some of the things I looked at were:

How clear did we make it where the page lead to?
How visible were the location of links and/or CTAs to the page?
How quickly could a user find these items?

The project wasn’t mentioned immediately in the first 50% of the page, so I suggested we change the current main slider to depict it, making it the first thing visitors see.

Our actual web development is done via Wordpress by the company Carolina Web Design, so our web developer implemented the new change immediately while I continued to asses the rest of the pages.

Project Information Page

I next suggested we should divide the information for WIE project into two pages.

Project Information Page — our information page where visitors could learn about the project and choose to create a fundraising campaign or donate.
Salsa Sign-up Page — instructional page on the steps to sign-up to start a fundraising campaign. I’ll be writing a 2nd post for this series describing the changes made to this page.

Below is a screenshot of the original project information page:

Look at Original Page Design

Here’s an overview of some of my thoughts to the Director after that evaluation:

Problem 1: Too much copy was created for the page, which will loose a visitor's interest quickly.

Solution: I revised the copy to a shorter form that still allowed for all the necessary and import information to be available on the page. This was then further edited and approved by the Director and Founder.

Problem 2: The graphics and photos are used in a similar busy way to the copy, increasing the crowded feel to the page.

Solution: Photos and graphics for the page should be limited to those that complement the topics and break up the copy of the page.

Problem 3: Call-to-Actions are not strategically placed on the page to encourage visitors to the behavior we want them to take.

Solution: Add CTAs to the page to increase traffic to our sign-up pages, as well as various other complementary actions.

And that's a wrap for post one of this series! The next post I will go into my mock ups of the new ideas for the page and the final outcome.

This post, as I said, was originally shared on Medium as one post. But honestly, it's really very long that way so I've decided to split it into a series of posts.

I Joined A Coding Bootcamp (And Here's Why)

Jamie Ferrugiaro — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:10:55 +0000

That was it. Just a little click with my mouse, and there would be no turning back. I'd be committing $10,500 towards learning web development.

There's this little feeling in the middle of your chest that tightens in these sorts of moments. This feeling that lets your brain know hey, this is a big deal so you better be sure.

But I'm not sure, though.

I'm not sure if around 6 months from now I'll be using all the knowledge from this bootcamp to earn myself a junior developer job. I'm not sure that I'll be successful, or that the program won't be too much to handle while working full-time and volunteering part-time.

I'm not sure even if I get that job offer and leave my comfortable, stable position at a company I’ve been at for over 10 years, that I won’t live to regret it or miss the people and quiet routines there.

That it won't be one of the most frightening things I’ll ever do.

What am I sure of?

I'm sure that life isn't about guarantees. I'm sure that I don't have to be sure. I don't have to have all the answers to those questions in order for that leap into the unknown to be worth it.

These declarations don't stem from some Millennial daydream, either.

They stem from countless days of decision. A pile of endless pieces of paper and sticky notes containing lists of pros and cons. They are the results of a fruitless career that will lead nowhere, regardless of how good the company is or how comfortable I am there.

It is the years of my childhood spent in love with computers. It is that little girl who saw HTML in 1997 while in 8th grade for the first time and thought it was the neatest thing in the world. The one who got asked to be the teacher’s assistant that same year, and took her computer elective course over again instead of taking her first art class. (Being an artist since I was in 5th grade, that was a big choice.)

The girl who tried to take web design in high school, but ran into guidance counselors who thought a typing class was the same thing. Who eventually instead taught herself both HTML and CSS at 16, piecing together code (in what would probably look pretty ugly now) from memory, trial and error, and online how-to documents.

Somehow, that early seeded love for technology and computers fell through the cracks of society and adulthood and ended up lost along the way.

Until here I am now, finding it again, all these years later.

But A Bootcamp, huh?

There are three main paths to learning web development: self-learning, bootcamp, or college degree. But this post isn’t to give you all the resources out there for each. It’s to talk about my reasons for the one I chose.

In my opinion, the final decision on which path is personal. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. There are pros and cons to each of these education options.

Self-Learning

Self-learning is a very attractive path, isn’t it? It can be practically free, or at least extremely low-cost compared to either alternative. There’s a trade-off to that price tag, however.

Cons on self-learning:

No mentors or fellow students
No career councilors
Least officially recognized
Least amount of guidance
Requires extreme discipline and determination.

I’m not ashamed to say that self-learning wasn’t for me. There’s strength in knowing what you need and what you can do. I have learned many things on my own, but for this path I had no interest or desire to waste time being distracted or veering off the course. I want a steady, straight path ahead. As someone with ADD, this is even more important for me.

Computer Science Degree

My biggest question in this decision process was if it was difficult to get a job without a computer science degree.

Cons on a college degree:

At 35 years old, pursuing a full degree in Computer Science would mean years of education that would leave me much older in the job market when first applying for those junior positions.
Most expensive option
Longest process to get started in
May include work not relevant to the actual job position

I read over real job openings on LinkedIn, Monster, and many other job platforms. Although they were for a range of positions in the field and varied in programming languages, the biggest common denominator was ability. I realized there were many companies who value skill the most, regardless of a degree.

Those Hipster Coding Bootcamps

That leaves us with the last option. Pay $10,500 to go to a Bootcamp. I favored Rutger University Full Stack Dev program, but there are many options out there. For those who may not know, Rutgers is a University based in New Jersey, USA where I live.

Most of the developers I talked to who didn’t know much about these programs were astonished to hear the price. At first glance, it’s pretty expensive.

Most of the prices are around the same:

Flatiron (Part Time Online) Software Engineer - $14,000
General Assembly (Part Time Online) Software Engineer - $15,000
Rutger University (Part Time In-Person) Full Stack Flex Program - $10,500

What The Devs Have To Say

I talked to a small group of very helpful people willing to put up with answering days, if not weeks of my insane questions. I even have a friend currently pursuing a computer science degree after already being a developer for 5 years.

Cons on a coding bootamp:

Cover a lot of topics and programming languages briefly, but not truly in-depth compared to pursuing a degree.
Extremely fast-paced, so knowledge might not be absorbed as well as something learned in a longer time span.
Leaves many students with a false impression of being immediately hired after completion.

More than a few developers I talked to felt that bootcamps stretched the knowledge out too thin. They’d rather see someone very skilled in fewer languages, than only just getting started in many.

Another commonly expressed opinion was that these bootcamps left many students feeling they would be hired immediately (or guaranteed jobs) when in reality that didn’t happen.

What I Have To Say

I found the advice of all the devs I talked to extremely helpful, even if I did not decide against a bootcamp. The reason for that is simple. Hearing experienced voices about these programs enabled me to have an informed, educated decision.

Always Learn

Although I will be committing a lot of time and work to this bootcamp, it’s not the only and final source of education for web development I will take. I plan on incorporating free online resources as well as books, videos, podcasts, and many more.

You Get What You Give

I also do not expect to be handed a position upon graduating. Those cute little promises of “get a job within 6 months of graduating” are there to make potential students feel relieved, and I can understand that.

It’s a struggle to let go of so much money without any promises. I, too, was looking at the job placement reports that many of these companies offer about their students.

But I’m not going to give up if these too specific time frames don’t work out. I expect to continue to work very hard towards earning that first position, however long it takes.

Career Coaching

That being said, Rutger’s bootcamp (and others) provide valuable tools to help me as I continue learning. They provide a career coach, interview prep, career goal checklists, networking events, and so much more.

To me, these are the type of things that I could not learn as easily on my own. Knowing the skills for the job is important, of course, but it’s not the end-all to landing one.

Learning In Person

Some might gripe about having to go to a classroom for 3 hours, 3 days a week for months. I will be the first to admit that I have far less energy after working all day to go drive to a classroom and pay attention for long periods of time (or basically past 10 minutes).

However, learning in person is a much different dynamic. I will get to meet 26 other people, all reaching towards the same dream and goals as I am. I love meeting new people who have the same or similar passions as me. It’s why I joined Dev.to.

The idea of meeting some people in this field in person is just as exciting to me as having made this concrete commitment to pursuing this new career.

On This Piece of Paper Thing

Although not an official degree, I liked that I would earn a certification for this bootcamp. I also very much value the program is run in partnership with Rutgers. Rutgers is a well-known University throughout America, but it’s especially enticing since it’s even more known in the state I live.

Many people have been talking about this a lot lately. How expensive college is. How hard it is to get a job. I won’t get too into that discussion here. However, I believe bootcamps are the future of education. Maybe they aren’t perfect. Maybe there are some flaws and kinks that have yet to be smoothed out.

Yet bootcamps signal the dawning of a new generation of learners. We need other options besides just college that is different than the traditional system which hasn’t changed for decades. These education systems need to change as our society grows and evolves.

In the end, no one is an expert immediately after learning from any educational platform. We become truly knowledgeable from real-world experience. Whatever path of learning we first take, it all leads us to that next course. This was just the right first step for me.

What happens after the bootcamp?

Maybe nothing happens.

Maybe everything.

Click.

Anyone Have Best Headphones For Meetings In Public Places?

Jamie Ferrugiaro — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 18:30:22 +0000

So I volunteer remotely for a non-profit and often have to do meetings in public places (because I choose to schedule them during break hours at times).

However, the background noise of these places interferes with the video/voice software and I am constantly having to mute my mic and unmute it.

It can be a little frustrating! And it's hard for my team members to hear me.

I'd love to hear people's suggestions of headphones that can help with these problems!

How I'm Learning to Code At 35

Jamie Ferrugiaro — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 02:30:00 +0000

The irony of this blog post title is that when I was 18 years old I attended my local community college and enrolled in the Computer Science degree program. I guess you can tell by the title that 17 years later, I didn't stick to that path.

My path in life instead made a lot of winding turns, until I ended up working for a great company but not headed in the direction I wanted to be. At 35, the prospect of making enough money to support myself alone throughout my life without struggling to do so was not very high, despite holding this job for 10+ years.

Although I am very grateful for the experience and opportunities I've had at my current position, I know something needs to change. That something has to be me, and that change is a completely new field. Whereas now I am an Accounts Receivable Specialist, my future self will be a Full Stack Developer. I'm documenting this journey here, and it officially started on April 1st.

I've spent a lot of time researching what this new potential career might entail. What programming languages I need to learn for front end and back end. Whether I should dedicate a few years in my already rather late start with a Computer Science degree, or if I should attempt to jump-start it via the newer "boot camp" route. All things, I'm sure, that many people before me have questioned.

I joined LinkedIn groups, Slack communities, talked to friends in the field, friends not in the field, family members, and complete strangers. I've been scouring the web reading articles, taking intro courses into JavaScript, and ultimately come to the profound conclusion that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing or where I will start with all this.

This is real life, isn't it? I've also started a mental collection of the not-so-great side to programming. The non-glamorous part of it that is less Felicity-Smoak-save-the-world excitement, and more staring at a computer screen for hours on end. Many of those I talked to said that being a developer is a frustrating pursuit. You are constantly spending hours on something but may get nowhere. Is this truly something I want to do?

I've learned how coding is especially a "mindset", not just spewing back syntax on a screen. That learning to code is about coding within a team; within real-life situations that go far beyond printing console.log('Hello'+ 'World'); or rect(722, 160, 150, 300); to a screen. (Yes, I did just learn that from Codecademy, thanks for noticing.)

It's about working a much broader approach "where you systematically break down a problem into individual and logical steps and then recreate that in a language that the computer understands."

Despite all that, I'm not discouraged. I've also learned that although programming can be challenging, you are apart of an amazing community. I've already talked to so many people online through these communities who have encouraged me, helped me and given me advice. Whatever direction this new path leads to, I'm confident I can follow it.

For better or worse - challenge accepted.

Author Note: This blog post was originally posted on my blog on Medium. You can find me there in my bio or go here. I found the Dev.to community after already starting my blog on Medium. I'm in love with it and am testing out posting on this platform.