Here's the product problems for me that I think y'all need to design for:

• encourage actual conversations in the comment section for all posts
• make the frontpage more than a place for portfolios and self-promoting by writing about the same topics again and again.

As you can see on the currently frontpage, posts don't get more than a couple of comments, probably because most of the content don't spark the creative conscious.

A bigger abstract may be that your audience are most likely designers in the illustrative/graphic/UI design field. There really isn't much to talk about in those domains honestly that haven't been beaten to death.

Ideally I would want DN to become similar to HackerNews in content and quality of comment/conversation. How you get there? May be a mix of marketing to certain users you want, better/more active moderators, and probably an iteration of the interface that encourages conversation (i personally do not like the layout of this site). Of course, all that requires whoever runs this site to actually put money and effort into it.

I'm surprised that Html/js/css is so high and distant from Framer and Axure. I wonder how many people actually do html+css versus more moderate js.

Another takeaway is how little that designers use and understand analytics tools (me included), but maybe we think of it more of a PM's job?

Clean portfolio. I looked through your first two case studies, but you do not go into what/how you use research & data to make the design decisions. I bring this up because you mention research & data in the main blurb on your homepage.

Bicycling & wrenching the bikes: Besides riding bikes (road & fixed gear), I really like taking apart old bikes, cleaning all the parts, perhaps repaint the frame, and put it all back together. I’ve amassed a bunch of bike parts for almost a decade now so I have a good collection of things that I can cobble together a working bicycle pretty easily. Since I’m on the computer pretty much all the time, it’s really satisfying to work with my hands and tinker with parts to make something new(ish) & functionality again, as well as “designing” the bikes (e.g. I have this random mustache bar, what happens if i put it on my beater fixed gear with these fat-ass tires?). Then I sell them for some dollars on Craigslist.

A newer hobby of mine is cooking. Again, I like that I’m working with my hands & knife instead of a mouse & keyboard—dicing up a bunch of meats/veg, and experimenting with different seasonings to see how it all comes together (e.g. what if I throw this wine on this chicken breast and put it in the toaster oven?).

I think the title should actually be "I really need feature from Twitter," because what Twitter really needs [to stay alive] as a business is something that is still up in the air.

Here's mine from late 2012 when I was focused on visual/UI design:

http://firstnamejohnson.com/older

I'm working on a new portfolio now to showcase more Product/UX/Interaction work I've done the last few years.

thanks, this works!