Solutions for People

I am a web professional since 2001, communicating across disciplines to produce practical, scalable, and user centered solutions for small businesses, nonprofits, and academic clients. I am a habitual inventor and problem solver, only now maybe finding the right idea at the right time with the right people to truly make a difference in the world.

  •   24 years

    Web Application Architect

  •   40 launches

    Product Leader

  •   failures

    Tireless Entrepreneur



Professional Experience
In 32,000 Hours

Chart showing Manuel Mejia's work experience since 2001
chart data



Proven Capacity



Way Finder

I design clear and efficient user journeys through complex and unfamiliar systems.

  • In 2009, I led the early product design for Elite Care’s second generation elder care management system. I produced a comprehensive collection of UX deliverables to define a unified product experience with functionality across multiple platforms.

    CareNet Care Management System

  • In 2012, while documenting the OSU Graduate School’s legacy website, I found that critical information was being communicated multiple times in different ways. In streamlining this content, I greatly improved the readability of the new website.

    OSU Graduate School Website

  • In 2013, I led the website redesign efforts for the OSU Graduate School. During this time, I designed an efficient and highly praised browsing interface to address the long standing challenge of finding information about current graduate programs.

    OSU Graduate School Website

People Watcher

I use research and observations to better understand a project's target audience.

  • In 2008, one of my early entrepreneurial ventures was to develop a “plug and play” website solution for visual artists. To research, I asked a hundred artists how they typically market their works and how they use the web to support their business.

    Artist Webdrop (Drupal Distribution)

  • In 2009, while designing Elite Care’s elder care management system, I visited many campus homes to observe the residents and staff in situ. This provided insightful contextual data that would otherwise have been unavailable to the product team.

    CareNet Care Management System

  • In 2014, I spearheaded the user experience design efforts for this graduate student application system. Through regular interviews with students and faculty, I gained insights about their typical workflow and periodically tested wireframe designs.

    OSU Graduate Education Toolkit

Bridge Builder

I listen to diverse stakeholder perspectives and facilitate clear communication.

  • In 2015, at InfoReady in Ann Arbor, I participated in the weekly prioritization of customer feedback. My participation in this process was especially sought after, due to my experience and accuracy in understanding user input and product constraints.

    UA Instructor Training Portfolio

  • In 2015, during a tumultuous product development cycle at InfoReady, I maintained clear communication with the designers, developers, and product team. I facilitated a cross-discipline understanding of un-documented requirements and proposed solutions.

    UA Instructor Training Portfolio

  • In 2016, at an early stage startup in Ann Arbor, I led multiple brainstorm sessions to fine tune the direction of development work each week. This iterative process led to an efficient working environment with rapid prototypes being produced at a regular pace.

    InfoShuk Business Anlytics App

Code Explorer

I contribute functional and scalable code at every stage of the product lifecycle.

  • In 2014, during development of this graduate admissions management system, I integrated the responsive Bootstrap framework and related libraries into their VisualForce front end built on the SalesForce cloud platform. The resulting hybrid Bootstrap/ Visualforce components that came from this integration were usable for many projects in the future.

    OSU Graduate Education Toolkit

  • Upon being hired at InfoReady in 2015, I dove head on into javascript development using AngularJS. It was my first of many adventures with this thick-client framework, yet far from a beginners lesson. With deep understanding of the application growing UI requirements, I was able to re-architect the entire front end to deliver a more polished and scalable solution in less time than other estimates.

    UA Instructor Training Portfolio

Trail Blazer

I choose bold paths toward possible futures while making the most of situational resources.

  • In 2001, I proposed, designed, and built a unique multimedia virtual tour of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary campus. While such a product was ahead of it’s time and typically out of budget for a growing non-profit, the roadmap I presented was practical and achievable, with clear benefits for all. Utilizing the RIA capabilities of Flash 5, we redefined the landscape of interactive web presentations, putting Best Friends on the map with a dynamic Internet presence and a handful of spinning furry friends.

    Best Friends Virtual Tour

  • In 2015, I started an open source javascript library called UIX. This represents a novel approach to building accessible user interface widgets in HTML5. By using WAI-ARIA standard attributes to identify these elements and their intended interactions, I was able to provide “out of the box” semantic and keyboard navigable UI widgets, shaving hours of redundant work for “accessibility compliant” front end developers.

    UIX - User Interface Controllers


Satisfied Cients and Co-Workers


Portfolio Highlights