This project served as an opportunity for me to learn basic frontend development and build a portfolio site that I can proudly present my projects on. This will be a project that I can broaden my skill as I create more additions to improve this site.
I needed a website to present my work as well as express my personal style so that my work can be easily shared and accessed.
The mobile design was created before the tablet and desktop version. Designing for mobile first creates all the bones of the site; photos, writing, and order of content. When it is time to scale the site to the size of a tablet and desktop, using CSS medias, all I have to do is adjust the size, spacing, and arrangement of content to fit the larger view widths.
5 users participated in a usability test and provided feedback to improve my site. The results found that all users were able to easily navigate through the site and 4 of them even mentioned they enjoyed the UI. Two areas that I improved based on their feedback was an addition of a back button (a) and more confident wording (b).
Learning to code was the most challenging and rewarding part of the project. Having never coded before, the first time I wrote a full HTML page, I proudly showed everyone in the room. Next I learned CSS, that's when my google search results became populated with searches asking "how to code ___ in CSS". The frontend developer that I worked with quickly became an invaluable resource when I ran into particularly difficult tasks. Through his guidance, I gradually learned how to think like a developer as I figured out the structure of HTML and specificity of CSS.
As I get more practice with coding, I want to tweak some of the UI to better fit my vision. A particular area of coding I hope to improve on is JavaScript so that I can add more elements that the users can interact with. I also hope to learn the 3d design software Spline and add unique and artistic elements to better express who I am. This will be an constantly growing website as I continue to accumulate more skills.
This opportunity to learn new skills and have a profession portfolio site has become a space that I can apply my many skills to. Although I have never coded before, I took on the challenge of coding a website to see what would happen. I'm extremely pleased with what I was able to accomplish. Hearing feedback that my site was easy to navigate, is further encouragement that I am capable of putting in the work to learn something new.