Upon viewing the website, I was first drawn to the main heading or opening headline, which is written in a large and bolded font. At this point I was unsure about the purpose of this site as the first set of text I paid attention to was an opening line about the author. Furthermore, my eyes were first directed to the main headline due to the style and large size of it, especially how each word in the headline started with a capitalised letter, which I perceived as a standout headline carrying great importance.
During the two minutes of interacting with the site my discrete actions are as follows:
I spent the most time engaging with the “Projects” section, as this section was frequently featured on the site. The first action I made on the site was clicking the “Explore Projects” button, leading me to multiple projects and many screenshots. The project's descriptions and related images were quite extensive, accounting for the time spent in that part of the experience.
During the two minutes I was mostly scrolling and clicking on buttons, links or project cards. The buttons allowed me to navigate to different sections of the site, however at times I was faintly lost. Overall, clicking buttons was my most common action, making it easier to progress through the site rather than constant scrolling. Indeed I found myself scrolling quite a lot also, which is not out of the ordinary when being presented with several sections of text and images.
I perceived the site to be a project portfolio, bringing awareness to an individual's achievements, experiences, skills and career milestones, especially their passion and dedication. I also sense the author intended it to be a minimalist site and a simple navigational experience for user's, with a focus on the author's project experience. My final impression, which I believe the author may not have intended, was how their About Me and Resume were not exactly given direct attention, compared to their projects.
The experience is able to communicate this primary goal, by the use of highlighted buttons and the recurring feature of project sections. Not only was there a “Featured Projects" section, there was also “Other Projects”, and additionally, a “See all projects” button, a common theme across the site. Each project included multiple images and descriptions encapsulating the depth of the author's experience within their projects and passion for their field. The detailed nature of each project signals and communicates to me as a user of the site that they are dedicated and enthusiastic about their career and gaining knowledge.
As this site is a project portfolio, the option of seeing the author's resume shouldn't be featured on the home page, as this is an unnecessary button, distracting from the main intended experience of the user, consequently taking more time. There are duplicates of the sections, “Projects” and “About Me”. These navigation links are not needed due to the “Projects” and “About Me” being featured already on the main page. My opinion is that the site should be interacted with for 10-15 minutes, one to three times. The explore projects button could link to the projects section on the main page without navigating to a separate page. The experience shouldn't take too much time, as the website sections should be easy to access and navigate to.
By taking note of the large amount of information for each project and links, the experience communicates it should be interacted with for around over 20 minutes, once. While the author has already included in their about me details, “Experience” and “Honors & Awards”, they have additionally attached a link to their resume, duplicating this information and increasing the time spent in this section.
The experience references a news website, “Forbes” and a blog page, “Waymo", in relation to the author's projects and includes two digital graphic illustrations. The digital graphic depicts the author drawing an array of icons representing their expertise in user experience design. The news articles and blog relate to their project, an additional source informing users of the author's projects.
The references force me to act by clicking into the link to further my understanding of the author's project, as it mentions that the link is a related news article and draws my attention to it being placed at the top of the page. The use of this link enables me to gain a better understanding of the author's project from another perspective and compare how both are related. The graphic featured on the home page below the main heading seemed clickable and interactive however was not.
I feel reassured by the information provided and it validates the authenticity of the author's projects. I also feel a little overwhelmed by the immense amount of information being presented, however it conveys that the author is dedicated to their field. The digital graphic illustration is an artistic and creative addition, which should make me feel intrigued by the site and stray away from it being too plain.
I noticed a few parts of the interaction which were unnecessary and frustrating. Firstly, the timeline of projects was unclear and unorderly, making the interaction with each project quite confusing and a disorganized way of presenting projects in a grid layout that varied in size, which was not consistent. There were many sections to click into and duplicates, such as the projects and about me on two separate pages when they were both already on the first home page. Lastly, the navigation bar was very distant from the central focal point, it was pushed to the top left and right corners. Home, Projects and About would not be noticed clearly and seem unimportant upon interacting with the site.
I found the home button was the most satisfying part of the site. Many sites don't include a way out of certain pages, causing the interaction to become confusing and stressful. The ability to navigate back to the home page at all times on every page was relieving and especially useful when lost deep within page links. It adds relief to the interaction, as I can rely on the home button to return back to the main page rather than endlessly looking for a way out or pressing the back arrow on my browser.
I have not used any AI tools or technologies to prepare this assessment.