Feedback on portfolio (case studies and resume)

Feedback & Problem Solving
#1

Hey all,

I am looking for a UX community to bounce around my ideas and exchange feedback, and I think I found the place! I just finished my UX portfolio as I am looking to transition into the UX field full-time. I am completely self taught and have experience in graphic design and front-end web development as well (CSS3, HTML5), and am willing to learn and learn quickly. Here is my portfolio along with my resume:

http://amirkhan.co

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#2

Hey Amir,
Welcome! Great to have you here.

Iā€™m happy to give some feedback.

  • The first thing I noticed was the rainbow coloured words, which I find a bit hard to read. I can see what youā€™re hoping to achieve, but Iā€™m not sure that itā€™s working to full affect.
  • Your case studies are great ā€“ they are well documented and easy to follow. They would benefit from a light English edit as there are a few grammatical errors.
  • I love the ā€˜lessons learnedā€™ section.
#3

Thanks HAWK! I redid the colors to make them easier on the eyes. Iā€™ll have to go over the case studies again now that Iā€™m done writing the code. What do you think about the design? Half the people Iā€™ve talked to like it and the other half donā€™t because it doesnā€™t show off front-end development skillsā€¦

#4

I agree with this but theoretically that shouldnā€™t be important for a UX role. Demonstrating your process is more important.

It would be good to get @inca431ā€™s thoughts on this. By her own admission UI design isnā€™t her strength. What is your advice re portfolios and communicating strengths Chris?

#5

Hey @amirkhan3
Saw your site and loved a couple of things right away:

  1. The logo shows yours personal style
  2. Resume is well written
  3. Links to email id and phone number launch corresponding apps :thumbsup:
  4. The left pane of the site remains static on all pages making it easy to navigate back.

As @HAWK mentioned, the gradients in the text color do make it a bit tough to read.
Otherwise, quite a good site you have there.

#6

@amirkhan3 I think the portfolio looks great! In fact, I might copy it to make mine better. Your visual design skills seem fine to me, as @HAWK mentioned, visual design is not my forte. However, Iā€™ve found that trying to find an entry level job without some minimum (not sure what that minimum isā€¦) UI skills is definitely keeping me in the ranks of the unemployed. Itā€™s my opinion that most companies still correlate UX design with visual design. And they often want both a UX and a UI designer in one package. A lot jobs Iā€™ve looked at are willing to take on a junior designer if they can perform visual design work as they grow in the UX teamā€¦ Iā€™ve heard that starting as a UX researcher can also be an entry point, but I havenā€™t explored that as much. In general, I think youā€™re portfolio is certainly well done from a UI perspective and you can dive into those UI/UX jobs with fervor.

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#7

Wow, thanks for the positive feedback everyone! I was beginning to think I need to rework it, but now maybe Iā€™m a little over critical since I just started sending out applications. Iā€™ll wait and see if I get a response before messing around with it too much. Thanks everyone for the input! :smile:

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#8

Hey Amir,
As others have mentioned - great choice using left-side navigation.
That being said, I feel as though the side nav section might benefit from a slightly edited structure.

If you get a chance, try dividing content into the following sections:

  1. Title: Logo, name, and basic info (position, location, resume link)
  2. Contact: ā€œContactā€ subtitle, phone, email, social profiles (if you have anyā€¦ if not, sign up for some!)
  3. Case Studies: You currently have a ā€œPortfolioā€ subtitle and a ā€œUX Workā€ sub-subtitle both anchored to the same section - this seems redundant (and a bit unnecessary since the right-side isnā€™t too long as is).
    Iā€™d have a single, unanchored subtitle with all work indented below (maybe make this a drop-down)

What do you think?