This portfolio redesign gave me a useful reminder: a developer portfolio is not just a place to show projects. It is also a small product with users, goals, constraints, and tradeoffs.

For this pass, I focused on making the site easier for a hiring reviewer to scan. That meant moving projects forward, improving project descriptions, adding clearer calls to action, and making the visual design feel more intentional than the default theme.

The accessibility work was just as important. I added a light and dark theme, improved color contrast, labeled the navigation controls, gave project images more useful alt text, and cleaned up content that was accidentally rendering like a table.

What I Learned

  • Responsive navigation needs to be tested at awkward in-between widths, not only phone and desktop sizes.
  • Theme switching is more useful when it respects system preference and remembers the visitor’s choice.
  • Good project descriptions should explain what to review and what decisions went into the work.
  • Small content details, like stale sample posts or mismatched contact information, can make a portfolio feel unfinished.

The redesign is still a work in progress, but it is now a better reflection of how I think: practical, user-focused, and willing to improve rough edges through testing.