Asa Miller
I make things with code and atoms.
I specialize in building mobile apps with React Native and web apps with React.

I love building things. I have a track record of going from idea to MVP to a shipped product. I believe in getting products in the hands of real people early and getting feedback.

I would rather focus on fewer features, but do them really well. I believe in “ship early, ship often”.

I believe good design is not optional and requires a serious investment, just like good technology.

I love the intersection of hardware and software. Making things happen in the physical world because of code is an amazing feeling.

What I avoid:

  • Tech bro culture
  • Being in it just for the 💰
  • Beer kegs & ping pong tables
  • Labels like rockstar/wizard/ninja
    (Let’s all remember, Kid Rock is a rockstar, there’s no magic wand for good software, and ninjas went extinct.)

Envoy

2017 - current

iOS App
iPad App

Envoy

making the office of the future

Check it out

I joined Envoy to lead their burgeoning React Native team. Using a cutting edge stack of TypeScript, Redux, GraphQL, and React Native, I lead projects to improve the user experience as well as the developer experience.

What I’m proud of:

  • Implement React best practices.
  • Create reusable modules to share between code-bases.
  • Collect usage data to make data informed decisions.
  • Adding lots of UI animations and polish.

Civil Comments

2016 - 2017

Alaska Dispatch News
The Globe and Mail

Civil Comments

advanced commenting platform

I built the entire frontend for Civil Comments. It’s a 3rd party embedded javascript app, built with React and Redux. I overcame numerous challenges to make it load super fast and run in hostile 3rd party sites.

Some of the challenges I solved:

  • Lightning fast loading. Comments are on screen in ~ 500ms (only has to load about 20k).
  • Server side rendering, when we don’t serve the initial HTML page.
  • Protect our CSS from unknown environments using PostCSS, CSS Modules, class name obfuscation, all at build time to keep an easy development environment.
  • Robust style customization for each site, all served from the same bundle & SSR.

Civil Live

2016 - 2017

Golden Horseshoe Review
Office Hours

Civil Live

live video platform

Civil Live is a complex live video streaming application involving React on the frontend and a serverless architecture using AWS Lambda & Firebase on the backend.

What I’m proud of:

  • Embeddable frontend built with React, Redux, Firebase.
  • iOS app built with React Native & Objective-C.
  • Backend built using a serverless architecture on AWS.
  • Integrating the frontend, backend, and iOS client seamlessly together.

Stand In

2013 - 2015

Mac App
iOS App

Stand In

mobile prototyping startup

Check it out

Stand In was an interaction design platform to help designers rapidly prototype device experiences. It integrated directly into Photoshop and Sketch. Designers could interact with their designs directly on real devices - all without having to code. I built Stand In with my co-founder and we took the company through TechStars.

What I’m proud of:

  • Founded the company and took it through TechStars.
  • Realtime sync of images & data between a desktop app and an iOS app.
  • Integration with Photoshop and Sketch through custom plugins.

Signs

2016 - 2017

Heart Sign Civil Sign

Signs

custom built LED signs

Check it out

I’ve been designing and building interactive LED signs. The cases are created with our CNC and the guts are built off Raspberry Pi, Node.js and React Native for the app. Interested in your own sign? Let me know.

What I’m proud of:

  • Integrating hardware & software together.
  • Fast communication between the iOS app and hardware.
  • Custom built animation library for LEDs.
  • Built an engine to preview animations because of the long cycle to test on the hardware.
  • CNC design and cutting of cases for the signs.

Fold

2016

Fold
Fold

Fold

iOS game

Check it out

Fold is a fun card game based around what wacky things your friends would do if the price was just right. It was built with React Native and Firebase. This was a project in conjunction with our friends Cat and Ben.

What I’m proud of:

  • Gesture based UI with each screen seamlessly transitioning into the others.
  • Social login so you can see your friends’ activity.

Gumshoe

2016

Gumshoe
Gumshoe

Gumshoe

Slack bot for frontend developers

Check it out

Gumshoe is a build tool and Slack bot. It tracks the size of your assets whenever you do a build or deploy and tells you what’s changed. That way you, and your team, can celebrate when things get smaller or dig in when they get bigger. Whenever you do a new build or deploy, any assets that have changed size, get posted into Slack. Each one shows the amount they've changed and a chart of their previous sizes.

Things I enjoyed:

  • Made a friendly conversational UI based around emoji.
  • Sharing bundle size reductions with the team.