Jon Snook is an extremely talented local web developer, but his range reaches much farther than that as he is known world wide for his work. Below, are a few questions I sent to him for an interview for my website, enjoy.

You have been involved in several different aspects of web development from programming, design, speaking, writing, etc. Which would you say you have learnt the most from, and that you enjoy doing the most? Is there anything that you absolutely dislike about any parts of your job?

Each aspect of what I’ve done has brought forth different learning experiences. With programming, it’s often a matter of learning solutions to the problems you run into but not always understanding the reasoning behind those solutions. Writing, on the other hand, requires a great deal of research and reveals more of the reasoning. With design, it’s an attempt to solve problems that other people have and learning to put yourself in another person’s shoes. It requires a great deal of empathy. The same applies to public speaking. You’re attempting to understand the audience and impart upon them what you know in a way that makes sense and has them going home happy. It’s something that I continually try to improve on.

Creative influence varies between each designer, where do you feel most of your inspiration comes from when you are designing applications or websites?

Inspiration comes from what I know. That may be from other web and desktop applications. Or it might come from real-life interfaces and experiences. I tend to be methodical in my approach, looking for patterns and establishing a system with my designs.

What is the largest thing you think could happen in the next 5 years in web development, and where do you see yourself at this time?

Rarely do we see revolutions in our industry. Instead, it’s a slow evolution. How different is web development than it was five years ago? In my eyes, not very. Every year, new levels of complexity get added to the mix. The number of things that we as web developers should understand continues to grow. In five years, many of the technologies such as touchscreen interfaces, CSS3 and HTML5 will be common place and we’ll have new interactions and new techniques that will have come forth as a result.

There are many websites directed toward freelancers. I know that you are currently working for Yahoo!, but what do you feel is the largest piece of advice you could give to young freelancers to help them keep their head above water? Was there anything crucial you learned while freelancing which could be helpful for others to know?

It’s important to have a network of people that you can rely on. Before going freelance, I had spent close to 6 years working for different companies. In that time, I built up my personal network. But I also got into blogging, which helped build up potential before I took the step into freelance. Freelancing wasn’t my goal when I started blogging but it turned out to be hugely beneficial.

Being in the industry so long, who is one designer you feel you could learn the most from and why?

I consider myself more of a developer than a designer and therefore, when it comes to design, I feel that I could learn most from someone who has a solid design background. Jason Santa Maria comes to mind as a person who fits that bill.

Lastly, If you could go back and improve anything in your career, what would it be and what would you do to improve it?

I really wish I started earlier. Making web sites had been a hobby for me as early as 1994 but I didn’t actually try to make a career of it until near the end of 1999. Things have worked out well for me in any case, so it’s hard to be too disappointed.

You can find Jon Snook at Snook.ca or follow him on twitter @snookca.

Any comments or questions are appreciated, Thank you!