Can I get some feedback on my Portfolio site? I'm getting a little disheartened with my job search and I'm wondering if my portfolio site isn't communicating clearly. I have other, more professional work I did at my old job but they threatened to sue me for having rejected wireframes on my old portfolio (And no, I never signed an NDA) so my content is limited to work I've done for more friendly professional relationships (Two non-profits and a start-up), unfortunately.

How long have other UX Designers taken to get jobs? When should I start to worry? I'm at about 2.5 months and have been in the running at 2 companies.


  • I don't know where you reside, but typically, while they can threaten to sue you, they likely don't have a case. Regardless, put the stuff in your portfolio, but don't make that part public. Put that behind a password or stick it in a PDF that you mail to people separately. – DA01 Mar 7 '16 at 17:41
  • Thank you, a PDF is a really good idea. I had it behind a password before and they threatened me again, so I really don't want to deal with that, but a PDF is a great solution. – Elle Kelsheimer Mar 8 '16 at 18:58

There seem to be a lot of problems on mobile. You have CSS breakpoints set for smaller browser widths but for some reason on an actual mobile device you see the full width site.

Here are some screenshots from an actual mobile device:

enter image description here

As you can see, there are elements overlaying and cutting off text and images. The images in the mobile device illustration are overflowing the devices bounds and don't scroll like intended.

What I'm assuming is the intended mobile design has some issues with spacing.

Here are some screenshots as they are now: (these are from a desktop browser with the window at a small size - not on a mobile device)

enter image description here

I have highlighted some areas that have spacing issues.

A quick edit to address some of the spacing issues:

enter image description here

The prev/next buttons on the projects also have some strange behaviour where sometimes it shows two sections, one above the other then shows one after navigating:

enter image description here

There are some design issues. The color scheme in general is ok, the only issue I would say is the 'View Project' button. The color isn't very pleasing or inviting, and the it isn't obviously a button. I would personally use the existing green and either make it more of a button or at least give it some indication of action.

I would also tone down the drop shadows on everything, and maybe add a faint stroke as well to the project sections.

This is a quick mockup of some of the changes I would make:

enter image description here

As I said, that is a quick mockup, but it gives you an idea of what I mean.

But, before worrying about any design changes I would focus on functionality. Since you are looking for UX jobs I would spend a lot of time testing and getting everything working correctly as it is not good in terms of mobile UX as it is now. Anything that doesn't work as expected will be an instant turn off if you are looking for UX work. It's like going for a plumbing job and showing them leaking pipes as examples of your work.

  • ++++1 for that last paragraph (the whole answer is also very good). Good point about keeping it simple and making sure it works perfectly fine, and then focus on design if necessary. That's a cute website, just need some little tweaking and you made good recommendations about it! – go-junta Mar 8 '16 at 4:54
  • @go-junta I agree it's a cute website and with some tweaks could be very nice, but especially in UX everything needs to work perfectly if you want to be taken seriously. – Cai Mar 8 '16 at 9:16

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