Aaron Shekey

I help design and create things like startups, websites, apps, songs, and records.

Work

Case study coming soon

ngrok

2023—
Shipping new features like our traffic inspector, and onboarding workflows. Redesigned their documentation while building a new design system.

Boox

2022—2023
I directed the front-end and user experience at Boox, a sustainability startup with the mission of eliminating single-use packaging.

Stack Overflow

2017—2022
I helped lead front-end at Stack Overflow by building its design system, and continually refactoring its user interface.

GitHub

2015—2016
I helped build a bunch of features at GitHub, but most notably code review.

Hum

2013—
I co-founded, designed, and built iPhone’s best app for songwriting.

Adobe

2011—2015
I created Reflow, a forward-looking app for designing responsively.

Posts

Halloween 2024

Why Halloween?

Short musings about why Halloween is the best holiday.
August 2023

The Worldview in Everyday Media

A small collection of random bits of popular culture that have had a profound effect on my worldview.
May 2021

CSS in SVG in CSS: Shipping confetti to Stack Overflow’s design system

Stack Overflow celebrates site accomplishments with confetti in multiple places. That means it’s time to formalize it in our design system.
March 2020

Building dark mode on Stack Overflow

Way too much detail on how I shipped dark mode to Stack Overflow.
May 2019—

Custom Emojis

Let’s get one thing straight. The Party Parrot is played.
April 2019

ParkMobile User Experience

Parking using ParkMobile’s app leaves a lot to be desired. I offer some sensible improvements to their app.
November 2018

Video Conferencing with a Proper Camera

I’ve switched from a built-in webcam to a proper camera and lens. This is how I did it.
February 2018

Write What You Want

I’ve edited a bit of previously-unreleased score from Almost Famous from a high-quality source for your enjoyment.
February 2017

Automatic Comping in Logic Pro

Comping audio is a time-consuming process. I’ve mocked up a dream feature for automatic comping based on pitch and rhythym in Apple’s Logic Pro X.
May 2016

Cabronita Deluxe

I recently designed a guitar from the ground up, based entirely on my own contradictory tastes. I’ve dubbed it the Cabronita Deluxe.
April 2016

Diarrhea is the New Fuck

In the spring of 2014, I fell head over heels for a band whose name I’d only laughed about. Until I heard them.
December 2015

Troy McClure’s IMDb Profile

As a huge Simpsons fan, I did my best to build an accurate IMDb profile for Troy McClure. This combines references from the TV show, comic books, and video games.
October 2014

America’s Finest News Source

The Onion is an unwavering bastion of emotional truth. With every week, good news or bad, it will deliver 12 headlines that perfectly tap into the emotional pulse of its readership. “America’s Finest News Source.” You’re god damned right.
July 2014

Optimizing Subway

At Subway’s scale, even tiny optimizations can have profound effects on the environment, the diner’s experience, and the franchise’s bottom line.
January 2014

The Hot Dog Button

I recently had the privilege of remodeling my kitchen. It ended up being much more superficial than I’d originally hoped since appliance design has been hindered by total-nonsense features.
September 2013

It’s What You Leave Out

“It’s not what you put into it. It’s what you leave out … Yeah, that’s rock n’ roll.” This thinking can be applied to everything—rock n’ roll, software, even skylines.