What changed and why.

IBM case study: The original copy described what was built but not why notification panel and widget needed separate design strategies. The rewrite grounds strategy in competitive audit findings — most weather apps used the same visual weight for routine and urgent alerts, which meant severe weather warnings looked like daily updates. The revision separates urgent interruption (notifications) from persistent preference (widget), so the case study shows the design decision, not just the deliverable.

Design system mobile fixes: The design system page wasn't legible on phone-width viewports. Tables clipped, stat cards compressed into unreadable grids, and the breakpoints example didn't stack. Eight specific responsive issues fixed in one pass — mostly horizontal scroll with pinned first columns for tables, and collapsing multi-column layouts to single-column below 640px.

Changelog and writing system: The changelog received a structural overhaul — entries now use a hybrid narrative format (context paragraphs + executive bullets) modeled after Linear and Notion's 2026 changelog best practices. Behind the scenes, the writing quality system shifted from reactive phrase-banning to a voice-first architecture with programmatic detection for structural AI patterns.

IBM Editorial: The IBM Editorial case study is being rebuilt from scratch. A placeholder holds the /work/ibm-editorial/ route while the new version ships, with all existing copy and imagery preserved so the rebuild picks up exactly where the previous version left off.

Site-wide consistency: Roles, timelines, and platform labels had drifted across case studies as individual pages were edited at different times. One reconciliation pass brought all seven studies into alignment so the portfolio reads as one body of work, not seven separately maintained pages.

Case studies: All eight case studies — PayPal, Under Armour, RigUp, Ernst & Young, IBM Notifications, IBM Editorial, Amazon, Microsoft — received full rewrites from overview through reflection. Strategy sections now lead with the design decision rather than describing the process that led to it. Rejected alternatives are surfaced where they strengthen the argument, so each study shows why this approach won over the others.

Home and site pages: The home hero now leads with domain expertise — health, platform, enterprise — instead of listing design activities. Featured project subtitles name deliverables rather than works-in-progress. Across Work index, About, Contact, and Gallery, copy tightened to the same confident voice and construction messaging consolidated to a single footer link or removed.

Design system documentation: On-page copy for tokens, components, motion rules, dark mode, and accessibility patterns rewritten for clarity and consistency with the visual language it describes.

Design system: A new /design-system/ page documents the visual language behind the portfolio — color, typography, spacing, components, motion, dark mode, accessibility, and gallery grid. Each pattern includes a live interactive demo (split-flap text, sticky header, orbit pills, image rotator, lightbox, theme toggle, hover lift, dark-mode flip), so the system is shown working rather than described in static examples. The page moved from an unlisted reference into permanent top-level navigation.

Changelog and site-wide banner: A new /changelog/ page tracks what ships each day — categorized entries in collapsible cards. A thin announcement bar now runs under navigation on every route, noting active development with reduced-motion handling and a link to the changelog.

Case study screen sets: Full sequential screen sets from the original projects are now wired into device-framed rotators — Microsoft OneDrive (29 screens), IBM Notifications (7 screens), RigUp (12 screens), and Under Armour (8 screens). Orbit skill pills on the home page now show on mobile, scaled down to fit the smaller portrait circle.

Dark mode and visual fixes: The announcement bar was invisible in dark mode (cream on cream) — light mode keeps its dark ink bar, dark mode now uses a lime bar with dark text. Homepage orbit pills were cream-on-lime (legible but flat) and now invert to a dark glassy chip with cream text. Device-frame illustrations on the design system page cleaned up to read as physical chrome instead of clipped shapes.

What shipped: The portfolio launched with eight case studies (PayPal, Under Armour, RigUp, Ernst & Young, IBM Editorial, IBM Notifications, Amazon, Microsoft), a home page, work index, about page, contact page with form, and a 50-image gallery with CSS-columns masonry layout and lightbox. Each case study follows the same arc — hero, overview, strategy, research, design, outcome, reflection — with prev/next navigation linking them into a continuous read.

Home and work index: The home page opens with an animated portrait, orbit skill pills (Prototyping, Research, Design tokens, Design QA, Craft), a split-flap headline animation, and a featured work carousel with custom scene tones per project. The work index carries those scene tones (lime, cream, dark) through device-framed preview images, hover lift animation, and per-project taglines.

Dark mode and motion: Site-wide dark mode launches with a pre-paint anti-flash script, lime-to-forest-green accent shift, and device chrome that inverts opposite the page surface so screens read as physical objects. Page transitions use split-flap text animation, the sticky header hides on scroll and returns on intent, and image rotators sit inside device frames throughout.