IndexHTML

indexhtml.co

Most designers don't have a portfolio because the site is the hard part. They can write about their work. They just can't face setting up somewhere to put it.

IndexHTML removes the site. Write in text files, keep them in a folder, publish from the terminal. ix init, write, ix publish.

The problem

The tools aren't broken. Squarespace, Notion and Framer all work. The problem is that every one of them makes you think about the website before you've thought about the writing. You're picking fonts before you've written a sentence about your own work. The sequence is backwards.

What I built

A CLI that turns a folder of markdown into a hosted portfolio at indexhtml.co/yourname. Navigation, mobile layout and project templates all come from the file structure. Custom domains and themes on the $4/month supporter plan. Publish and you get three invite codes, which unlock themes for both parties when you share them.

I did the product, the marketing site and the onboarding.

The templates were the hard design problem. Too prescriptive and people feel boxed in. Too open and they sit staring at an empty file. What works is questions rather than structure: what was the context, what went wrong, what happened. That was the third attempt.

What I learned

Working alone makes every decision a real tradeoff. Pricing, onboarding, scope, support, all of it lands on you. When signup-to-publish conversion drops there's no PM to hand it to. You sit with the numbers and redesign the onboarding yourself.

That sharpened my product instincts more than any design role has.

Michael Wilkins