This article was a response to the "Best UI no UI" debate that was sparked by one of Cooper's article I think [1]
Personally I think the "Best Interface = No Interface" mantra is too black and white and totally ignores all the shades of grey in between. If you come up with these principles, the language needs to be much clearer.
I think what people meant to say was "Sometimes the best UI is no GUI".
First of all thanks for doing what you're doing, trying to make a positive change. I can imagine it requires a lot of your time, financial resources and causes additional stress. Most people (including me) would probably just give in to avoid the hassle.
Nowadays I only fly to the US if I absolutely have to. Being treated as if you're a criminal and having seen how the US border control shouted at a woman in a wheelchair and made her cry was enough for me to choose other holiday destinations in the future, where you are more welcomed as a tourist.
Your reply on the ember forum seemed packed with frustration, hence the response so far I guess.
Wouldn't it be better to include a brief note on the homepage to highlight that docs are WIP and point to other getting started resources? Just to avoid further frustrated newcomers?
Anyway, your reply here paints a more complete picture and just wanted to say thanks for your contribution to OSS.
Having additional strong portfolio pieces definitely helps, and yes quality over quantity. Whether it will be enough for Google & Co, I don't know. Usually these companies require more experience, if you want to work as a UX designer for them. But don't let that discourage you - definitely work on your sideprojects - you never know.
Again, judging from your portfolio only, it looks like you should maybe focus on UI design first, as this seems to be your strong point and find a job in a UX specific agency, so you can see and learn what other UX practioners do, learn more about UCD etc.
I'm sure there must be UX only agencies in Australia or startups - a quick Google search came back with
* If you want to work as a UX Designer, then I think you need more UX portfolio pieces, showcasing your design thinking and how you solved various design problems. Most of your work seems to be campaign or brochureware related, I couldn't see anything transactional or application related for example, so try to get more experience in that area too.
* If you've done anything in the mobile or app space include it in your portfolio. If not find a sideproject you can work on and create a case study which you can include in your portfolio, similar to http://www.repeattimerapp.com/how/
* One of your designs (under construction) looks like it's a Wordpress template - try to avoid showing unfinished work
In summary, judging from your portfolio only, I think you need to get more experience (agency / startup) before applying as a UX Designer at Google & Co.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm