PORTFOLIO PROJECT
PROJECT BRIEF
The Designer’s Portfolio is constantly evolving. We are adding new work, updating and archiving past projects. It begs the question who are we and what do we want to show. This project lasted two weeks and compelled me to use all the UX practices learned during bootcamp and incorporate my visual design background to start constructing my portfolio.
ROLE
For this project I had the most difficult client I think that I will ever have to face, myself. Since I was working alone I was the researcher and designer.
Research
INTERPRETING THE USER
I knew right away that I wanted to use Designers and Recruiters as research participants. The questions were designed to highlight their past portfolio experiences, either the construction of a website or how they use it as a tool for hiring.
SYNTHESISING THE RESEARCH AND DATA
THE PROBLEM
Recruiters and hiring managers need a way to look through McKenzie’s work experiences. By creating a portfolio McKenzie will make a website that allows users to see her projects displayed in clear and easy to read case studies showcasing her work.
What user’s wanted to see were clear ideas and steps taken to create a portfolio, not have to over distract the viewer with too many elements such as color or animations. Keep my thought process focused through visuals and written areas. Another important piece of advice was to make sure that the viewer was able to engage with my work.
STRUCTURING A CASE STUDY
This is my Project Plan for what should be included in this case study. It included some of my goals for this project. I referred to this piece a lot when I needed to check on particular steps or what needed to be done next.
The Design Process
PORTFOLIO BRANDING
Mood Board created for Portfolio
Sketching was a huge part of my Design Process. You can see below how I went from Initial Sketches, to wireframing in Sketch to finally framing out my layouts in Squarespace.
Choosing colors was difficult, it would have been easy for me to fall in a wormhole of color. I tried to keep the colors muted for a soothing tone to the portfolio. I ended up toning down the Paolo Veronese Green for a simple flow throughout the site.
I used Squarespace as my CMS because of the simplicity and cleanliness of the templates. It allowed me to focus and display what was important to me such as visuals, a structured layout, and color variation.
Canva was another tool I used when making my portfolio. It is a template platform that allows artists or designers to create different types of mixed media templates for users to utilize the tools for web and print media graphics and designs.
IDEATION
Low Fidelity Sketches
Homepage One
Case Study Layout Top
Homepage Two
Case Study Layout Middle
Case Study Information
Case Study Layout Bottom
SKETCH SOFTWARE WIREFRAMES
Low to Medium Fidelity
SQUARESPACE WIREFRAMES
Medium to High Fidelity
Conclusion
OUTCOME
I knew that to start I needed to define the problem and research. From there I would brainstorm and analyze the information while developing solutions to build a model. Finally I would present for feedback and improvement and then start the cycle again. Most projects that user experience designers work on are never complete. I’ve never been to a website or used an app that has never changed. The design process is cyclical and always changing based on trends, new projects, and achievements.
I think that for this MVP I did a good job researching, ideating, and constructing a portfolio. I used the lessons I had learned from bootcamp and formed this first version of my portfolio.
REFLECTION
As I stated above I know that this project will never be finished, the projects on here will constantly be revised. There will be pieces archived allowing for newer and more exciting pieces to take the spotlight and those archived projects will still be under revision. There are many things I would like to change on this site such as:
Better visuals
I would like to expand my About Me and find a more suitable picture.
Work on my storytelling and make it more engaging with the user.
Incorporate more animations.