Hi, I'm Dan Harrison.
I create software tools that solve problems and make everyone's life easier.
I do that by working directly with people inside organisations and understanding how they actually work. I spot where time and admin effort are being wasted, where people are doing the same work more than once, and where a tool could take that work off their hands.
Based in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, I specialise in creating business portals, clever automations and proper helpful integrations.
What I'm known for
- Explaining very technical concepts to people with a range of techie levels (without making people feel stupid)
- Creating user interfaces that require near-zero training, and just work
- Adapting systems to match how someone actually WANTS to work (called a desire path), making them naturally more efficient (and less annoyed!)
- Knowing how to solve a range of problems with code, sometimes in really unusual ways
- ALSO: being a bit obsessed with AI, telling bad dad jokes, and being a little sweary!!
What I enjoy building
I particularly enjoy building business portals and connecting different systems through their APIs. There's something very satisfying about taking several separate bits of software and getting them to work together properly.
I also enjoy the techie equivalent of renovating. I like taking old software and legacy code, working out what it does and what is worth keeping, then turning it into something more modern, more useful and much easier to use.
A little about me
When I'm not building software, I'm usually renovating my home, cooking for friends, spending time with my son or finding an excuse to buy another DeWalt tool.
I'm a big foodie and love trying new things, particularly street food, with a special fondness for Chinese and Thai cuisine. I also have a well-documented weakness for Cadbury's chocolate.
A brief summary of my career
I've been working with WordPress since around 2005. For many years, I was a WordPress specialist, creating custom themes, plugins, integrations and websites that did far more than simply display content.
Around 2021, my work began to shift. I started building more business portals and automation tools, initially using WordPress. These projects were less about creating websites and more about giving people useful software that solved a particular problem.
As the projects became larger and more complex, I began building them as standalone Laravel applications. Today, my work is focused on creating business portals, internal tools and connected systems that save people time and make difficult jobs easier.
Next steps
Want to know more? Get in touch.
For the technically curious 🤓
I've worked with quite a collection of languages, frameworks, platforms and tools over the years. If that's your sort of thing, you can explore my technical skills and experience.