What's there for a developer to display on their portfolio?

OK, so there are a whole bunch of amazing portfolios by web designers out there. I won't name any names, but many of them are amazing, beautiful and astonishingly creative--even by designer standards (that is to say beautiful standards). Inherently though, the portfolio sites are a simple single page or a handful of pages. The actual portfolio listing screenshots of the design, the about page with background information and a couple brief paragraphs about history, personality, and skill set, and lastly the contact page. That's all they really need, anymore would be wasteful. However, it doesn't show any of their knowledge in web development--by which I mean the workings of the functionality behind the design: JavaScript interaction, database abstractions, and business logic.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing on the designers or their sites. The issue is I am not a web designer, I am a web developer.
Kia Kroas :=: 17 Dec, 2010 02:25:56

And I know a good number of designers double up as developers up to the point that the two terms are nearly interchangeable. My definition of a web developer is a person that specializes in the data processing logic and interactions between the components in order to deliver the result to the client's browser; a web designer is a person that specializes in the presentation of that result from the browser to the user. There is definitely an overlap since they both interact with the browser, however, I am sure (almost) everyone specializes in one aspect more than the other, even the so called "full-stack programmer".

Although I will eventually try to get to the coveted position of being a full-stacker rather than a full-slacker, I am a web developer. I've worked with an amazing group of people for quite some time now, the Hybrid Group and have been focusing nearly all my time on the business logic while the designers (Daniel and Emmanuel) have been working on the design. This leaves me with troubling questions now that I want to put up a portfolio site for my work. What do I showcase on the portfolio? Should I design it myself? If so, how? Do I even have a design personality? If so, what is it?

I have owned a business entity (User Hello, LLC) for the past 5 months, registered it with the California Secretary of Service and IRS and paid the corresponding fees and taxes. I haven't quite done much with it though, and all that money I paid nearly seems wasted. So now that the year is nearly over, I want to pick up the tasks and begin leveraging that to some use...too late now, but ready it for next year. I have the domain. I have had it long before I registered for the LLC. It's been sitting there looking like a squatter domain. I don't like being a squatter. I just don't have the time to work on it and now that I have a little time for it, I don't know what to do with it. Quite a dilemma.

After much deliberation, I think I reached a reasonable answer to some of the questions. I like to share. Here it is.

What do I showcase on the portfolio?

The situation here lies in the fact that a screenshot of the page only details the design. I did not do the design. Therefore, showcasing the design would be unintentionally disingenuous. To understand my role in the development, potential clients have to traverse the websites in question. Not only that, they must be able to discern the difference between presentational logic and the business logic. The latter oftentimes being obscure, of paramount importance, but obscure and arcane. I can ask the potential client to traverse the site, but that doesn't provide the same flare and flashy introduction of the designer portfolios. Also, asking clients to do anything "time consuming" tends to be an arduous endeavor and causes more losses than gains, especially before they become a client.

I have decided to forgo the flashy first impression and opt for a more passive demonstration. Something that will not necessarily awe and dazzle readers, but will at least astonish if not terrify them. I will showcase my code! ... and possibly the architecture layout and database design. Obviously I know that many clients looking for a web developer do not understand code--that's why they're looking for a web developer, duh! However, it will demonstrate my skills (mostly my commenting skills). Luckily I work with Ruby, a very read-friendly language. It should be generally understandable if presented alongside good enough naming and comments.

To make it a real portfolio however, it will be from code that I have written as parts of a project rather than something I write merely to demonstrate my skills. (That would be useless anyway, what client wants code that isn't used?) Since I (plan on) working on a number of open source projects, this leaves me with ample sources for my portfolio even if my clients disallow any part of the source to be released. Yay!

Should I design it myself? If so, how?

The answer to the former is an obvious yes. The latter sheds light on the obliviousness of the obvious answer. I should create the layout myself, but yet lack the skills to actually do it. Designers know what happens if they let the programmers play with the design. And they're right. What's a programmer to do?

It is my portfolio site, and as a web developer--sans skills or not--I should be able to at least make it look friendly. It will not be beautiful, or pretty or fancy. I can't do that with my current ability. However, it will be nice and friendly and not ugly. So the answers are: Yes, I will design it myself. Painstakingly. I need to catch up on my design skills anyway. The new HTML5 and CSS3 stuff looks really promising and is definitely where the future web will converge. Browser makers are putting quite an effort into implementing the standard even before it becomes an official standard. I can't call myself a web developer if I don't know it. Besides, I can only hide from doing design work for so long.

Do I even have a design personality? If so, what is it?

The answer to this was obvious when the previous one was answered. I don't have a design personality. Time to find one. For now I'll just have to stay minimal. In the meantime, I will have to look for inspiration and see what ticks. Going to be one heck of a journey since I know I have a color sense worse than a blind Asian mole.

My focus will have to be toward the user experience and interface rather than the aesthetic. I can't shell out for Photoshop and GIMP is only pimping with the cool kids. The UX/UI is what I should excel in anyway. If I focus on that, it will be a chance to hone my current skills while gaining some others.

With that said, this will probably take quite a while to develop. I will start soon...