About us
Miles Hitcham
WHO WE ARE
Miles is founder and chief developer at AmazingWebDesign.
He has been involved with IT and programming since the mid 80's and website design since the early 'frontier days' of the internet. Later he was a key individual working for a software company designing and developing applications for private investors and financial institutions. Whilst there, he was heavily involved in the development of real-time price and option trading software which was successfully marketed by the London International Stock Exchange.
Miles has a broad experience of designing and developing systems including many database and networked systems, investment software applications and he is also an official Apple IOS and Mac Developer. (and designer of the FairOption App.)
Later in the 1990's the founder headed a Sage Accounts Development Center from 'scratch' to the point where it became one of the top-7 Sage plc accounting software developers in the UK at the time the PLC company first entered the UK FTSE's top 100 companies.
The developer mainly now specialises in website design (front and back-end), Apple software app development and bespoke integration of those with other systems.
The main developer will take on any IT project as long as it is challenging enough and he considers his skills will do it justice.
In 2023, AmazingWebDesign were awarded the MarTech 'Innovation in business' UK award in recognition of their web services. And in 2023 and 2024 international, further innovation awards for web design. In 2024, Miles as part of AmazingWebDesign was officially merited with most Innovative IT Developer 2024 (UK).
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Many internet sites pack as much as they can into the physically available page space. This is seemingly done in an attempt to catch visitors' attention and 'inform' (or maybe just to 'punch them in the face?')
Yes a sense of movement can be nice. But 'more' is not always better, especially when it comes to uninvited popup windows and advertisements. Or telling visitors how to scroll, animations 'dropping down from heaven', or making visitors feel like they are in 'some kind of earthquake or landslide'.
Our philosophy is not to 'bombard', distract or confuse website visitors,
but to let the clear main message of a site breathe and then shine through.
We do however like to take full advantage of all the space available on larger screens so making the designs and message appropriate for each device. (For example: this may mean less text or a condensed message for some items on smaller, more mobile devices when people are busy.)
A website should be an honest, direct and concise communication between an entity with something useful to say and recipients seeking that 'straightforward usefulness'. Sounds simple!
Nothing else matters, and anything else is just a waste of time!
Good website design is also much more than the graphics, text and the effects you see on the screen.
Once you have the content and design layout which works to usefully communicate your clear message, then SEO (and maybe later SEM) can be important elements in the mix. But again without the artificial 'stuffing' of pages with unnatural or 'black-hat' attempts to circumnavigate bringing internet users the most useful and relevant content.
Quite simply: Good useful honest content is King
and needs to be both digestible and seen!
THE WAY WE WORK
After working on many successful projects in different situations over time, we have found it best to define the specification of a website in considerable detail. But one size does not fit all. Sometimes a more iterative, agile approach over time works well. Some clients like to build up their site in gentler, smaller steps, whereas others prefer to sanction a more impressive launch or revamp 'all in one go'.
It all depends on the project aims, expectations, budget and what may already be available to use in terms of design graphic resources and other data.
For instance, delivering a website from scratch to a more open specification can often produce a better result than 'bolting' many elements on to an existing website that is already seriously deficient.
We can only really ascertain for any project what is most suitable after listening carefully to the customer about the aims and requirements. A template-type, 'one of a few sizes fits all' service where you pick from about three menu option panels vaguely as to what you might get, will seldom deliver a closely fitting solution to a client's needs. And such a service is rarely interested in developing their templates for that customer further as their new, more-bespoke needs arise. We do not try to fit your site into any box, but can tailor and fine tune a solution which will best fit you.
The main developer, Miles commonly works on bespoke projects himself after they have been specced out. Any project (or part of a project) which he does not directly work on, is closely authorised and overseen and all work is thoroughly checked and tested until everyone is happy. There is an emphasis on the use of object-orientated, reusable code where possible, if that is appropriate. In 'Plain English', this means a more efficient, cost-effective and closely fitting solution for the customer by using programming code which has been tried and tested for a longer period of time. (i.e. is more reliable)
All projects are different, but see below for a typical workflow.
Our attitude is: Every client, Every project, Full personal attention, Every time.
