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About & Resume
Intro
Hi there. My name is Chris Watts, and I’m a senior designer and front-end developer who’s spent a career making complex digital problems feel simple. I care deeply about craft: the kind of work where accessibility, usability, and visual quality aren’t treated as trade-offs. I’ve led projects from initial concept through launch – aligning stakeholders, shaping design systems, and writing the code that brings it all together. Having built what I’ve designed for most of my career, I bring a practical fluency to every project: I know what’s possible, what’s fragile, and where the details matter most.
Resume (Summary)
View my full resume on LinkedIn.
Core Skills
Design & UX - UI/UX design, interaction design, wire-framing and prototyping, responsive web design, visual design, typography, design systems and component libraries
Accessibility - WCAG-informed design, inclusive UX practices, accessibility auditing
Development - HTML, CSS/SASS, JavaScript, PHP, front-end development, CMS architecture, strategy and governance
Strategy & Leadership - UX strategy, analytics-driven optimization, stakeholder alignment and presentation, digital communications, brand standards and guidelines
Software & Technology
Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, XD ∙ Blender, Figma, Final Cut Pro (incl. Motion), Framer, Sketch ∙ Apache, Bootstrap, CMS platforms (various), CSS/SASS, Git, HTML, JavaScript, Linux (Ubuntu), MJML, PHP
Experience
Director, Web & Digital Communications (July 2024 – Present)
University of Houston, College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Web Project Manager, Communications (June 2017 – July 2024)
University of Houston, College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Web Developer III, IT (June 2009 – June 2017)
University of Houston, College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Lead Web Designer (Sept 2008 – June 2009)
Houston Independent School District (HISD)
Education
Art Institute of Houston
Animation Art & Design
Studies in fine art, color theory, design, typography, iconography, illustration, animation, and video production