Business was in the doldrums for a while, which was the real impetus for my website redesign. I hadn’t done any sales or marketing since I went out on my own, more than 2 years ago, and I had barely done any networking, and only 1 UX event in the past year. With our move across the world, and having a new baby (who didn’t sleep well for the first 9 months of his life), focusing on long term business goals took a back seat. But it was time to try and get some new projects, and pick things up.

It was a bit of a shocker at first when I got rejection emails, and couldn’t seem to get people interested in my work. But after reaching out to industry experts, it became apparent: I had gotten complacent. My website was old, and letting things slide as long as I had started to really cost me. It was time to eat my own dog food. If I wanted my clients to be current, and to care about the look and experience of their products, I needed to do the same for my own product. And I’m my own product.

So I scrapped my old website. I rewrote my case studies, and gave the axe to most of my portfolio. Anything that wasn’t user experience, or user interface related, I chopped. If it didn’t look the way I wanted my ideal product to look, it got chopped. I also looked at projects that I wasn’t really allowed to show off, due to NDAs, and figured out a way to present my role in those, too. Whereas my previous website had a description of the project, and list of skills I needed for it, along with a bunch of screenshots, I focused on what any future employers and clients would care about: my user experience process. I kept screenshots to a minimum. I want people to see my UI abilities, but rather than serve a 10 course meal of UI design, I wanted to give appetizers. Let you all see enough of my work to know what I can do, and speak more about how I approached each project.

And outside of the website, I’ve been getting more involved in the design community. I’m on Twitter more, and I’m no longer a lurker! I’m adding 2 new people to follow every day, and really trying to speak up, when it seems appropriate, or I have an answer to a question. I’m making time for Dribbble every day, looking for lesser known talent like myself, who would also like some publicity, and trying to get involved on their shots, offering feedback and praise. It’s what I’d like, too; I might as well give it to others.

And guess what? This stuff works! Since my launch only a week ago, I’ve gotten about a dozen new leads, and few new signed contracts.

It was time to eat my own dog food. I shouldn’t be so shocked that this stuff tastes delicious.