Kyle Halleman

The web is what I think about. I believe it should be available to everyone, so I focus on accessibility, responsive design, and performance. I love writing React, but lately I’ve been thinking about how we can move beyond React to work with web standards to make a simpler, more robust web experience. I am passionate about all facets of front-end development, but I particularly focus on the intersection between UX and the front end.

Work experience

Northwestern Mutual (Milwaukee, WI)

Lead software engineer August 2024–Present

Responsibilities

• Created a complementary component library to the enterprise design system—tailored for the client website experience—gaining adoption in 33 apps (37%) within the first year, featuring 29 components (and growing).
• Provided hands-on support for client website teams to identify and fix bugs, adopt new libraries, and migrate to new ways of creating apps.
• Introduced a new layout system that focuses on primitive utilities that are responsive to their content and containers without using media nor container queries.
• Embedded on the design system team for a quarter to help lead the from-the-ground-up rewrite, with emphasis on the build system, styling architecture, component APIs, layout system, design tokens, iconography, and typography.
• Held interactive feedback sessions with teams across the enterprise to promote and share insights into the new version of the design system
• Worked extensively with the design system team on improving the legacy version of the system, contributing 57 merge requests.
• Paired with engineers and designers across the client website on a regular basis to help level up the skillsets of more junior engineers and help grow the relationship with the design organization and reduce feedback loops.
• Worked with design and product on a site-wide design consistency effort to create a more cohesive user experience for the client website and mobile platforms.
• Promoted a lightweight and flexible CSS strategy for both the client website and the enterprise design system, reducing our dependency on third-party tools.
• Facilitated a fortnightly department-wide lunch and learn series that helped break down silos between teams and build a sense of community. I personally gave 7 talks in this series.
• Ran a one-day workshop for 100+ back-end engineers in another department exploring the current state of front-end development at Northwestern Mutual and beyond.
• Joined the “accessibility ambassador” program and became an accessibility specialist, conducting audits for new features and helping create an accessibility practice for the client website.
• Mentored two junior engineers, both of whom I continue to mentor after the 6-month program ended, helping one engineer through an internal interview and promotion process.

Senior software engineer June 2020–July 2024

Responsibilities

• Created and maintained a fully auditable web interface for financial representatives to securely instant message with clients, using smart polling strategies with React Query to avoid overloading our API.
• Contributed bug fixes, feature requests, and completely new components to the company’s Sass- and React-based design system, working closely with the core team to ensure success.
• Intimately collaborated with the design team to prototype, implement, and iterate on new features for our secure chat product, sharing insights on feasibility and accessibility to end up with the strongest product possible for our users.
• Created and maintained UIs allowing users to update their email, web, and phone preferences, using a modernized GraphQL service our team built.
• Maintained and improved a Redux-based legacy notifications dashboard for financial representatives to easily see in near-real time when clients accomplished tasks and goals.
• Used atomic design principles to create shared components and templates for email and web notifications, showcasing them on internal Storybook sites for our publishers.
• Created and maintained an internal NPM package to streamline setup of new JavaScript and TypeScript projects and ensure consistency of testing, linting, formatting, and configurations.
• Promoted stronger accessibility adherence with product, engineering, and design teams.
• Held a twice-monthly meeting for my team teaching front-end skills to help improve the skillset of the mostly back-end engineers.
• Shared new techniques and experiences with the company via internal blog posts and talks, including lessons learned from implementing Next.js in our company’s infrastructure.
• Created our team’s documentation site to openly share our processes and thoughts with the entire company and provide internal-facing documentation with teams implementing our platform.

Skills + Technologies

• HTML
• CSS + Sass
• JavaScript + TypeScript
• Web Components
• Node.js + Express
• React + Next.js
• Redux + TanStack Query
• Storybook
• Webpack + Vite
• Jest + Vitest
• accessible design + development
• responsive design
• atomic design
• Figma
• Git

Watermark Insights (Milwaukee, WI)

Senior front-end engineer July 2016–June 2020

Responsibilities

• Designed, championed, prototyped, and implemented a dynamic, responsive navigation menu across the product (using a variation of the Priority+ pattern).
• Developed a feature allowing faculty to quickly get information from their CV into our system by marking up a parsed representation of their document.
• Promoted the use of TypeScript throughout our front-end applications to help write safer, less error-prone code.
• Successfully advocated and led a transition from a front-end architecture using Backbone to React, while ensuring interoperability.
• Designed and developed the front end for a new in-product notifications and messaging system.
• Created and maintained a CLI app and supporting scripts used to quickly create and develop new projects leveraging our company’s toolchain.
• Created reusable, responsive components in a living style guide for both Backbone and React frameworks.
• Successfully lobbied for and led a shift to responsive design throughout the product.
• Maintained and improved legacy front-end systems.
• Created the company’s open-source policy and helped launch its first open-source project.

Skills + Technologies

• HTML5
• CSS3
• Less
• Sass
• JavaScript (ES2015+)
• TypeScript
• jQuery
• Grunt
• Node.js
• NPM
• Backbone
• React
• Redux
• Storybook
• HAL+Hateoas
• Webpack
• RequireJS
• accessible design + development
• responsive design
• atomic design
• Figma
• Sketch
• Git

Harley-Davidson (Milwaukee, WI)

Front-end developer July 2014–July 2016

Responsibilities

• Led research, design, and development of a universal React-based responsive web app that acts as an encyclopedia of model information, with fast live search and dynamic comparisons.
• Created live social media display board showcasing latest tweets and Instagram posts on the Livewire tour. Made an adapted version for Harley’s annual dealer meeting that displayed on a 65'-wide screen.
• Designed and developed department portfolio site.
• Designed and developed podcast web app using vanilla JavaScript, featuring offline storage and variable playback rate.
• Developed HTML5 SCORM-compliant e-learning course template and made many courses with it.
• Developed responsive front end for company-wide leadership development website.
• Advised offshore team and did code reviews for new employee intranet.

Skills + Technologies

• HTML5
• CSS3
• Sass
• JavaScript (ES2015)
• jQuery
• Grunt
• React
• Redux
• Node.js
• Express.js
• MongoDB
• Webpack
• RequireJS
• SCORM
• responsive design
• Git
• Wordpress
• Adobe Creative Suite

Out of the Box Technology Apps (Mequon, WI)

Front-end developer, Project Manager April 2013–June 2014

Responsibilities

• Handled client relations from first meeting to finished product.
• Gathered project requirements; created quote and supporting documents, including requirements and wireframes.
• Managed timelines and task lists; ensured projects were on time.
• Hand-coded front end for the majority of web projects; leveraged frameworks as needed.
• Created interfaces and design flows for mobile apps.
• Designed eBlasts, flyers, posters, and other print media.
• Tested apps for usability and functionality, design fidelity.

Skills + Technologies

• HTML5
• CSS3
• Sass
• JavaScript
• jQuery
• Grunt
• Zurb Foundation
• Bootstrap
• responsive design
• Joomla!
• Wordpress
• Sketch
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Pixelmator

Education

• Milwaukee Area Technical College
  • Studied Graphic Design
• University of Wisconsin—Madison
  • B.A. Spanish, International Studies
• University of Alcalá
  • Two-semester study abroad
• Columbia College Chicago
  • Studied Film and Video

Certifications

• IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist July 2019–December 2022
• IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies November 2019–December 2022
• IAAP Certified Professional in Web Accessibility November 2019–December 2022
• A bunch of “certifications” that don’t really mean anything from online courses at Pluralsight, Frontend Masters, and others.