It’s been over a decade since I last posted something personal online (beyond the odd comment or share). In that time, everything about how we show up online has shifted — new platforms, new expectations, and now, a whole new AI-driven era.
So why create a personal website in 2025?
Good question. I asked myself that, too.
Between LinkedIn’s algorithm, Substack newsletters, and AI-powered search, you don’t need a website for people to discover your work. But that’s not why I’m doing it.
I’m building a site — part portfolio, part sandbox, part blog — as an intentional space to:
- Share what I’ve learned in leadership, UX, and product design
- Experiment with new tools and ideas (especially around AI and interaction)
- Document the work, not just the wins
- And maybe most importantly, to own a little slice of the internet that’s mine (again)
I’m also treating this like a product launch. Which means I’ll be transparent about the data behind it: what worked, what didn’t, where traffic came from, and how engagement changes once I eventually post about it on LinkedIn.
Over the next few weeks, I'll focus on gaining a baseline for organic traffic. (The first task will be adding the sitemaps to Google and Bing search engines.)
Shoutout
A quick thank-you to Venessa Bennett — she’s been a big motivator for me to get this off the ground. If you don’t already, give her a follow or check out her work.
Who I’m Writing For
- Other product designers and UX engineers
- Engineers curious about UX and product design
- People in my professional circles who might only stick around for 5 minutes — and that’s fine.
My rule of thumb: keep it simple, keep it useful.
Launch Features
You know that saying, "you’re your own worst customer"? True here. For launch, I’ve focused on the basics:
- Homepage — first impressions matter. It needs to communicate quickly who I am, what I do, and the value I bring. Minimal, to the point.
- About page — a space to expand on my leadership style and values.
- Resume page — straightforward skills and experience.
- Case studies — not just polished results, but process and learnings (the good, the bad, the messy).
- Blog — I share a lot day-to-day; this is a way of capturing some of it more permanently.
Tech Stack
Sure, you can spin up a site with WordPress, Squarespace, Framer, or even Canva these days (and Figma Make is there for the brave too). But I wanted control, flexibility, and a separation between content and code. So I went with:
Prismic.io for content
Structured, API-first, easy to build with. I've long wanted to build out a site where all content is managed by a Content API
Next.js for the frontend
I’ve wanted to explore SSR/CSR properly, and this is the perfect opportunity.
What I'll track
Like any product, this site needs goals. Because you can’t manage what you don’t measure, over the next 12 months, I’ll track:
Metric | Baseline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Baseline traffic | Organic only | Add sitemap to crawlers, then watch before/after LinkedIn post |
Visitor sources | TBD | Referrers + countries |
Page engagement | TBD | Which pages, how long |
Shares/discussions generated | TBD | Track blog posts specifically |
LinkedIn follower count | 395 | Track month to month |
X follower count | 1,925 | Track month to month |
Final Thought
So much of what we make online belongs to someone else’s platform.
This is different. It’s a space I can own, shape, and grow — a record of work, thinking, and experiments in progress. A personal corner of the web to keep me honest, curious, and moving forward.
Simple as that.