The Origin Story

After landing my first real full-time job, in a new city, I had some serious budget planning to do. I would be leaving home and flatting for the first time. I needed to know what my after tax pay would be so I could make a plan.

I couldn't find a tax calculator, but I did find the tax tables on IRD's website.

With my skills in Macromedia Flash (before it was acquired by Adobe) I quickly put together a small executable file which could take an annual salary and display the weekly and annual take-home pay.

I took it one step further to also accept an hourly wage (as some of my friends were paid by the hour), and it would do a similar calculation to return the weekly or annual salary after tax.

I could now compare incomes to get a sense for affordability.

As the years passed, I still found myself coming back to my handy calculator. I kept adding features and eventually put it online so I could access it away from home.

The website was born!

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Feedback & Features

Several versions later, it started to mature and gain some traction. People other than myself were using it and that is when unsolicited feedback started rolling in.

Each time a feature request was made I would need to gather further information, research the problem and find a solution. Knowing what needed to be done at the calculation level was one thing, it was sometimes another challenge to fit it into the UI in a logical manner.

With an increase in feedback volumes, I now manage feedback through Userback which helps me to categorise and triage issues. It also captures session replays and console errors to enable faster diagnosis of bugs.

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Analysis & Refinement

I have been a long time fan of analytics software to track usage and events on the website.

Using analytics software to monitor the health and activity of each tool allows me to focus on improving the areas which would provide the most impact.

When Google Analytics switched from Universal to GA4, and some of the event tracking features were removed, I built a new publicly facing tool, Average Salary, which leveraged the data I was previously tracking in GA.

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Continuous Improvement

Testing never stops with the website. Not only do I still personally use it all the time, but thousands of Kiwis use it everyday - and I can assure you, if they spot something, I'm the first to hear about it :)

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Test & Release

For the last major release (version 9), the stakes were high.

When the bulk of the development was nearing completion, I put a notice up on the existing website, asking for testers. When I had enough volunteers, I ran a closed beta, sending them to the new site requesting feedback.

The closed beta lasted for two weeks. Several issues were picked up and addressed.

After the closed beta, I had an open beta with a public link for anyone to test the new site. This also run for two weeks, giving me a chance to collect and address anything outstanding.

Once I was happy with the new site, I pushed it live for everyone.

It was an exceptionally smooth transition for my users and was very well received.

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The Results

The site continues to grow in popularity and is a critical tool for many New Zealanders.

It serves millions of sessions annually and ranks at the top of many search results.

I still get an immense sense of pride and joy when someone reaches out to thank me for providing this service. This is what motivates me to continue improving the website year after year.