When I was a co-op student studying media arts and design, my advisors emphasized the importance of including my completed projects in my portfolio. I obeyed but neglected to do something else—document the thought process behind my design.
Sure, I wrote a short paragraph describing the project’s goal(s) and the tool(s) I used, but that wasn’t enough. Employers are interested in all the little details between the beginning and the end.
The final product doesn’t tell the entire story. How about the time and effort put into the project? If I don’t write down my thought process, I’ll lose it forever. I can recreate how I thought after the fact, but it won’t be the same. How will people appreciate what I’ve done if they assume the path from A to B was just a straight line?
Even writing this blog post is documenting my thought process. It’s messy and rushed, but it’s happening right now, as I think. This personal documentation ultimately keeps me accountable.