Hi everyone!! This week we are going to go to start the lengthy process of my portfolio redesign. I want apologize for my spotty audio and lighting, I promise it will get better!! One of the running jokes of the design industry is that we are constantly redesigning our portfolios and rebranding ourselves. Where does this come from? Well designers are constantly judged on how they present themselves. This is how we show our credibility and experience to our colleagues and potential clients. It is also essential to have a portfolio if you are applying to design jobs, no matter what specialization you are in.
With this pressure, we often never feel like our portfolios are good enough. One of the ways we can improve our personal feelings towards our portfolio is to taking a ux approach and strategize how we design it.
In this video I start with analyzing my current site and listing what is working and what isn't. Taking note of the current status of any design is an important step to set a good foundation for discovering where to improve. Next, I set goals and talk about what I really need to achieve with my redesign. I note that I really need to work on making every element fully responsive and beautiful on all platforms. While I do have proper case studies, I want to move them to an additional gallery page where I have filters between my branding, ux, and passion project work. This way there is a clear call to action on where all of my work. Next, I want to include a new section of my website dedicated to providing content for other designers to learn and grow. I will be writing blog posts and providing resource lists and downloadable assets.
Defining a key target demographic is an important step in any UX/Web redesign. This helps you set out different goals and actionable user flows for the people that will be engaging with your content. For me, it was clear that I had three very different user groups. With these defined, I can then work through some design thinking exercises to solve specific problems and needs for each one.
In the next video I will take you along some design thinking exercises that will prepare me to start working through the architecture of my site, and then onto wireframing and low-fi prototyping.
I know that my current site is kinda rough, so please be gentle on me! I will be investing my time and energy into making my new portfolio function and reflect my design statement.
What I use to build and host my portfolio:
My FAVORITE website for all things user experience design, research, and usability:
Great resource for learning how to get started with design thinking:
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