Hi Jesse! Amazingly beautiful, elegant yet simple portfolio with an impressive arsenal of skills to boot!
1. I quite enjoy the parallax screen since it shows that you understand the importance of animation with websites and is quite fun especially with that background.
2. One word, Git! Source control is a very, VERY desirable skill.
I would have liked to be able to see previous iterations of your code as you develop the websites to get an insight into your process of developing websites. It’s also comforting for freelance clients if you can give them access to the Github repository, provide some basic instruction on how to access the repository and then they can track their project live as you work on it (similar to tracking a parcel scheduled for delivery). It’s also great for getting employed by a website development company because they’ll often use Git for their collaborative projects and it’s important that you know how to work in a team environment by leaving appropriate commit messages, ReadMe documentation, etc.
3. I believe it should scroll back to the beginning because it reduces the maximum scrolls required to access any of the pages. 1 scroll to get back to the beginning versus 4 scrolls for example. It’s a minor UX thing but these days people have such limited time that any “time-saving” techniques are greatly appreciated!
4. It sounds like a fun concept but this is a professional website and business owners/hiring managers certainly don’t have the spare time to be playing duck hunt!
5. It’s fine but there’s been a few replies with some great ideas for how to improve it.
6. The biggest problem yet strongest strength of the website is that it can feel unprofessional at times? For example, the truth about poop being the featured book for your Personal Library Notebook project, the role-playing game Heart of the Labyrinth and the background aesthetic all remind me of early flash games through websites like Newgrounds.
BUT! It also reminds users that you’re a human being and have your own personality so i quite enjoy it but just remember going forward that the aesthetic of your portfolio website may be the make or break point for potential clients.
7. It’s not bad but all these required fields are a barrier to entry and as stupid as it sounds… Why should I take the time to write a paragraph about my project and enter all these details when i can go to another web developer and maybe enter my first name, e-mail and phone number?
You want to make it as easy as possible for users to accept your call-to-action whether it be auto-filling forms, reducing the amount of data capture, etc. Me? I would remove the website, last, budget and project info inputs because you can decide all of that either through e-mails or over the phone.
8. I love the website as a whole and it’s definitely a pleasant user experience overall but there’s just a few things that could really improve the website and hopefully get you more clients.
