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Design

Posted by Katherine Liu
Katherine Liu
1,413 Points

Sharing my work after taking Usability Foundations

My personal website is http://katherineliu.me – I would love to hear critique about how I can improve usability/other aspects of the site! Thanks.

3 Answers

Kate Hrycak
Kate Hrycak
5,542 Points
Kate Hrycak
Kate Hrycak
5,542 Points

Hi Katherine,

If you really want to find out how people use your site and potential problem areas, I recommend setting up a small usability test with your friends/family in the area! To do this, figure out which 'tasks' of your page you think might be problematic. For example, "can people find my previous work history?". Then, create scenarios from that list of tasks, such as "you are a recruiter for a big design firm and want to know my previous work history. Find out what history is available for the last two years." Once you have this list of scenarios (they can be super short or long and cut up into simple sentences to walk through), invite a friend over and tell them you are testing the site (not them!) and want to watch as they go through your scenarios.

These scenarios and testing with your website's users will give you controlled feedback, rather than subjective feedback. Can people use my page, can they find the information I want to give them, do they know who I am, etc, are all usability questions. If you are looking for a visual/UI review, I highly recommend posting on Dribbble or another graphic design focused community for feedback.

Usability testing might feel like a lot for just a personal page, but it's a great spot to start. For more info, I highly recommend the book Rocket Surgery Made Easy.

Cheers and good luck with testing out your page!

Katherine Liu
Katherine Liu
1,413 Points

Thanks so much, Kate! Will definitely try out usability testing =)

Stephen Whitfield
Stephen Whitfield
16,771 Points
Stephen Whitfield
Stephen Whitfield
16,771 Points

looks absolutely awesome. i'm always jealous of designers and their eye for detail.

Katherine Liu
Katherine Liu
1,413 Points

Thanks Stephen!

Brian Steele
Brian Steele
23,060 Points
Brian Steele
Brian Steele
23,060 Points

Great job! It's so clean, and the way you've utilized the grid really makes the page flow/keeps the energy up. If you're looking for critique (and it sounds like you are!) I would say make your call to action more clear. When I first come to the page, I immediately get a feel for what you do (big, display typeface), but perhaps add a link (in the form of a flat button or something that complements that green) to contact you. One final point, the :hover states used on the links on the contact page don't do justice to how nice the rest of the site is. I would suggest either getting rid of the background-color attribute and just using a darker shade for the text color, or if you like the background color, perhaps use the transition property to add a bit more elegance to the hover. Overall, though, I'm being nit-picky, great job!

Katherine Liu
Katherine Liu
1,413 Points

Thanks for the feedback Brian! I'll definitely work on the hover states – I realized that on mobile, there is no "hover," so viewers can't tell what each image links to. Lots to keep improving on!