Document the Process! The one thing I wish I knew five years ago.
On January 1st, 2017, I brought in the New Year announcing that my first portfolio site was live. After months of designing, copywriting, editing, crying, and repeating, I was finally ready to present my work online as an artist and designer. I constantly questioned myself during this process. I questioned a lot of the design decisions I made.
Am I making it too complicated for people to view my work? How can I simplify this?
Is this button clear?
Is this site overwhelming?
What I didn’t realize in 2017 was that I was asking “human-centered design” questions. The 2017 iteration of cheyennecoston.com was overwhelming. It was a dump of everything about me. Who I am, what I do, and everything I can do for you. I can imagine it was a little difficult for recruiters or possible clients to determine if I was the perfect candidate for a design role when they had to navigate through all of my paintings. I can also imagine it was difficult for possible customers to purchase art when there were so many other calls to action available “view artwork,” “schedule a consolation,” “fill out this form” — it was a lot.
Spring 2017 — Reiteration #1
One early redesign I made to my website was adding section cards to my homepage. One labeled “Art” and the other tagged “Design.” Each card would take the user down the perspective path of their interest. This way, art collectors, galleries, and buyers wouldn’t get distracted by freelance design content, and prospective clients and recruiters wouldn’t get distracted by art content. This change was successful for me. I saw an increase in contact form submissions, more design clients, and more opportunities altogether. Later that year, I was a published designer and landed my first full-time design role.
In 2017, during the first residency in my graduate program, I was introduced to the “product design process.” I felt like someone had shared the key to life (a little dramatic but serious). The experience had changed the way I approach my design process entirely. It also provided context to why I had questions about my designs. I implemented these practices in my full-time role and as the designer of my website.
My role as Marketing Designer at Sheltering Arms Children and Family services was filled with problem-solving, making the most out of less, and improving processes. At any given moment, if you passed my desk, you would see a whiteboard filled with colorful but low-fidelity mockups of flyers, social media posts, webpages, and campaigns. But, they were just that; low-fidelity mockups. My department leads always wanted to see designs more fleshed out. Plus, I couldn’t get myself to present rough drawings in weekly stand-ups. I felt pressured to submit images as close to perfect. I would push myself to provide multiple ideas fully expressed in the early phases of projects. I often felt like I wasted time when my preferred ideas were not selected. I didn’t have the language to express the importance of reviewing and testing designs early and building on to ideas as we go. In retrospect, some ideas may not have been discarded so quickly had I shown the process and key factors into way I made certain decisions.
Summer 2019 — Reiteration #2
As time went on, I started to feel like having all of my artwork and design work on one site was no longer serving me or the direction I wanted both aspects of my career to go. During my graduate program, I struggled with keeping “Cheyenne the Design professional” and “Cheyenne the Artist” as one entity when they were not. I speak about this in “How I learned to embrace being an Artist and Designer.” Recruiters had different needs and expectations than Art Collectors, and I needed to treat them as such.
So in 2019, I completed my graduate degree and decided that I wanted to create a business for my art practice. I then formed Think In Color Studio, LLC and purchased my second domain in its name. With everything I learned about user experience design, I was very intentional about each section of the Think In Color Studio website. I expanded the e-commerce section, extended artwork profiles, and shared my experiences at art shows and other art-related experiences. At the same time, I was a little embarrassed about previous iterations of my website. I wanted it to be as close as I could get to perfect. I worked quickly and didn’t document where the site was at the time. Out with the old in with the new.
A Promise to myself
So here I am, redesigning my website again. With more experience as an ux designer under my belt, I realize how important measuring and documenting those imperfections is. They help you make better design decisions moving forward and avoid repeating mistakes. A common critique I get in my portfolio is that it’s too polished. I don’t share enough of the process. I can’t think of a better case study than my two products: my design portfolio and the art studio/shop website. SO, moving forward, I am making the promise to document the process no matter how embarrassing and intermediate it may feel at the time. Better late than never.
My advice to any student or young designer is to screenshot and document everything. What decisions you made and why. You don’t have to publish it right away, if ever, but it’s great to have a record of all of the work you’ve done. You never know when you will need it.
Follow me if you would like to see more in this website redesign series. My first case study will be about why I’m prioritizing certain areas over others.
