Personas
My first step in this redesign was to really think through who this is for and I landed on two personas.
Rachel Song is a recruiter who would look at my portfolio with the goal of hiring me. She wants to quickly find the information she's looking for, including a case study and about me section.
Rachel Song is a recruiter who would look at my portfolio with the goal of hiring me. She wants to quickly find the information she's looking for, including a case study and about me section.
Then, we have Eddie Lopez who is a fellow designer who is looking to revamp his portfolio. His aim is to gather design inspiration and read up on other people's opinions regarding design.
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Using these personas, I pulled out key features to incorporate into my new portfolio.
1. Easily scannable for quick information
2. Section for a blog
1. Easily scannable for quick information
2. Section for a blog
Information Architecture
With my goals in mind, I decided to add three sections to the navbar: Projects, Blog, and About me. These sections will allow for easy navigation for the different personas. Recruiters will be able to see where my projects live and learn more about me without searching very far. Fellow designers will be able to click through projects too and also read through my blog to see what my thoughts are on design trends.
Brand Personality
My brand personality is simple, modern, and welcoming.
I am a UX Designer, and I want my portfolio to emphasis the usability of my site. I chose to stick with Montserrat as my font because it's modern and reflects that I keep up with design trends.
I want people visiting the site to feel welcomed into this space, so I chose to use the yellow-golden color as my accent color. It's warm and welcoming, but the pairing with Montserrat is still current.
I chose these features to emphasize that I am a designer that considers current design trends, but I am also an inclusive designer. My goal is to design accessible, inclusive designs, which is why I chose warm colors and simple fonts. I'm hoping that recruiters will see this and understand that I am thoughtful in my designs.
I am a UX Designer, and I want my portfolio to emphasis the usability of my site. I chose to stick with Montserrat as my font because it's modern and reflects that I keep up with design trends.
I want people visiting the site to feel welcomed into this space, so I chose to use the yellow-golden color as my accent color. It's warm and welcoming, but the pairing with Montserrat is still current.
I chose these features to emphasize that I am a designer that considers current design trends, but I am also an inclusive designer. My goal is to design accessible, inclusive designs, which is why I chose warm colors and simple fonts. I'm hoping that recruiters will see this and understand that I am thoughtful in my designs.
UX Design
Incorporate personas, InfoArchitecture, and brand.
Taking into account my personas, information architecture, and branding, I landed on this current design that you see today.
Recruiters can easily find my past projects and information about what makes me me. Fellow designers can explore my portfolio to see my layout, design inspiration, and read my blog posts.
Taking into account my personas, information architecture, and branding, I landed on this current design that you see today.
Recruiters can easily find my past projects and information about what makes me me. Fellow designers can explore my portfolio to see my layout, design inspiration, and read my blog posts.
Automation
What: I automated the comments section for my blog posts.
Why: Webflow, my website hosting platform, doesn't currently have a built in comments feature, which meant that I needed to build one myself to support comments. I want people to interact with my blog posts and leave feedback or their own ideas to build a community. This comment feature supports the "Fellow Designer" persona (ie. Eddie Lopez), because they are now able to react to my thoughts and exchange design ideas with me.
How: I used Webflow's CMS fuction and an automating website called Zapier. When someone creates a comment, it goes directly to Zapier as a form. Zapier creates a live Webflow CMS post with the form information. Once the page is reloaded, the comment will appear.
Test the automation for yourself here.