Mark Johnson

Denver - 16th Street Mall at ChristmasI am a software developer based in Denver.  I’ve been working in the software industry for twenty years.  I started my career as an intern at an established ERP software company in 1999.  That first summer, I wrote the first version of the State Unemployment Insurance and New Hire Reporting tools for the J.D. Edwards OneWorld ERP suite.  Both products shipped to production and both are still in use today.  Since then, I have developed many more products with even greater success.

Over the years, I became a Software Architect at EffectiveUI designing and implementing systems for clients such as FedEx and Zinio, then Software Architect at Oracle implementing mobile solutions for one of the company’s enterprise software divisions. Eventually, I had the pleasure of serving as Technical Lead of MapQuest Web Products at Verizon working as the lead engineer for mapquest.com and as the ranking engineer for all consumer products for MapQuest.

I am passionate about developing software. I love the challenge and continuous innovation required to stay at the top of my game; the satisfaction of solving a business problem that increases value for my customer; the accomplishment that is earned by diligent work.

Denver - Union Station at SunriseMy career has given me the opportunity to experience many aspects of professional software development from both a product and a services perspective. I have inherited code developed by engineers who had long left the company. I have participated in support calls to walk customers through resolutions to issues in a product I maintained. I have negotiated with product managers and clients to ensure a technical design both met their requirements and still could be completed given staffing, budget, and time constraints. I have followed a product vision from the writing of the first requirement to product completion. 

These experiences have given me a deep appreciation for the fact that delivering a successful product involves much more than simply writing lines of code. I take pride in my technical aptitude, but I feel it is only one facet of the value I bring to an organization.


Digital GeneralistsIn 2009, I founded the software consultancy Digital Generalists with my wife.  Since then, we’ve helped companies large and small leverage the power of software to enhance their brand and empower their employees.  In February 2014, we released Spiral by Digital Generalists, an application that provides the power and features of the best iPad handwriting-enabled notepad applications on your phone.  I designed every aspect of the application and wrote every line of code.

Spiral by Digital Generalists
Sockeye Marigold at Knickerbockers, January 2001Once upon a time, I played music for both fun and profit.  That feels like a very long time ago, and realistically is at this point, but I still break out the guitars from time to time.  Sockeye Marigold at Knickerbockers, January 2001
I’ve been promising a solo record to my close friends since roughly the spring of 2000.  I now have enough material to make that happen.  I just need another decade or so to find the time to record it all.

If you would like to talk to me about any of my work or anything I’ve posted to this site, please don’t hesitate to send me a message.