Portfolio (Legacy)

web

Earlier developer portfolio with smooth scroll animations, dark/light theme toggle, and optimized Lighthouse performance. Predecessor to zaidxshaikh.

React.jsJavaScriptCSS

The portfolio that taught me what zaidxshaikh needed to become.

The problem

My first real portfolio was 'safe' — scroll animations, theme toggle, project cards. It looked fine, but it didn't say anything specific about me. I learned what was missing only after living with it for a while.

The approach

Built a clean Lighthouse-100 React SPA with custom-CSS theming and Framer-Motion-driven scroll animations. Optimized images and deferred non-critical scripts to hit 95+ across all categories. Used it as my daily portfolio for a year and noted every visitor question it didn't answer.

Tech decisions

React SPA + Framer Motion

Snappy interactions; declarative scroll-trigger animations

Custom CSS theme tokens

Theme toggle without dragging in a design system

Image optimization pass

Lighthouse perf 95+ on desktop, 90+ on mobile

GitHub Pages deploy

Zero hosting cost; free SSL; sufficient for a static SPA

Outcomes

Lighthouse 95+ across performance, a11y, best-practices, SEO
Daily-driver portfolio for over a year
Surfaced exactly what was missing — leading directly to zaidxshaikh

What I learned

A portfolio that 'looks good' is the floor, not the ceiling. The next jump is voice, interactivity, and a hook that earns the visitor's curiosity in the first three seconds — which is what zaidxshaikh is built around.