Exactly What You Want

What is one thing people can do to make their website better?

Exactly what you want to build!

Ask yourself:

What drew you to development in the beginning?
Is there an experimental API that you’ve been wanting to try out?
What could you spend all night hacking away at, just for the fun of it?

Your personal site is a statement of who you are and what you want to do. If you showcase your favorite type of work, you’ll get more requests for similar projects or jobs — feeding back into a virtuous cycle of doing more of what you love.

Like stage performances, you can tell when love and excitement went into creating a website. One of my favorite examples is Cassie Evans’ website. She added so many fun flourishes (including an adorable SVG self-portrait). The joy baked into her work has (at least partially) led to her current role, bestowing animation superpowers at GreenSock!

So, go forth, and create a trailing mouse cursor. Or a confetti component! A real-time drawing pad, or some hardware to show the current state of your coffee machine. Really, anything that gets you excited to build!

hnikoloski