Project Overview
My father-in-law reached out to me with the opportunity to build a campaign website for Jasmine Hatmaker, running for the city council of Eugene, OR. It was quick, easy, and an amazing opportunity.
Context
Jasmine needed to have a place to receive donations, field campaign volunteer inquiries, host a blog, and have a place for people to learn more about her platform while running for public office.
Asking Questions
I wanted to convert Jasmine's needs into technology requirements and specifications. To do that, I wanted to see what I could to technologically that would fit her budget, time, and functional requirements.
I asked clarifying questions that guided us toward the solution we landed on. I asked for some examples of website designs that she liked and content that she might want included, and accounted for those in the solution. I also asked about what data she would intake, and how she would like to receive it, which informed how it would best be secured. I asked about her domain registrar and existing email solutions, as these would likely be modified with the addition of a new website. I wrote the answers to all of these questions down, and kept her up-to-date on my work as I went along.
What I Did
Jasmine didn't need anything outlandishly complex or custom-built; she just needed a basic CMS to share and receive information. I took the designs that she shared with me and modified a template to fit with her design preferences. She didn't require any special data storage solutions for form submissions, so the email configurations we set up would serve just fine. She would be able to use her domain to forward form submissions via email automations, and still send emails from her preferred email provider with the same domain name.
Results
The site worked well with her domain registrar, for a low overhead, and that provided her with the functionality she wanted, at the appropriate scale. Having met all the requirements set out at the beginning, it was a successful launch on MLK Day, 2026!