Building an UX design portfolio?

I have been thinking of rebuilding my portfolio since its pretty outdated and I wanted some views on the approach I should take

Option 1 : Have an approach in which I list all the projects (major ones) on the front page and allow visitors to go through them

Option 2 : I build it like a conventional site and allow users to learn more about me (and my design methodology) before they have a look at the projects ,so the order would be home ,about me,my portfolio and contact me

The thing is I have seen portfolios of designers who have employed either of the methods and have been successful but I get mixed signals from people about what exactly they want to see,some say that most people are not interested in who the person is and rather would just like to see the work while I have heard contrasting views from other people as well.

I also would like to hear your views on how you handle the issue of proprietary work being displayed on portfolios

Answer

I have worked on my own site through countless iterations and have never been happy. I'll paraphrase the old adage, "A designer who designs their own site has a fool for a client" :)

This is what I have learned through feedback on my own site, from hiring and seeing the successful sites of people who have been hired.

Go with some version of option one.
Make it so visitors get a (mostly visual) idea of you and your work in about a minute.

Lead with your best project...have one or two more and that's plenty. List where and who you worked for and your education. Make getting in touch with you easy. Forget the rest. You can list your philosophy but IMHO, it has little bearing.

The goal of the site should be to get you an interview not provide enough evidence to get you hired.

Lastly, your site IS your first work sample. Make it unique.

Examples: I watched people on my site at interviews; they clicked on the first thumbnail section, looked around a bit more and they were done. Every time, I took stuff away it got less cluttered and more successful.

I was helping to hire my replacement at my last job... I often knew the second their page loaded whether they were a candidate or not. Two clicks later, I was sure.

Same at my new job... I just hired a UI designer. 30 seconds on their site was all I needed to know whether they should come in for an interview.

Finally at my last company, I was looking internally and got passed up for another candidate. I was friends with the recruiter and he showed me the winning candidate's work. His work was awesome and the site was simple. It looked almost like a PowerPoint presentation. He stated the issue, showed his solution and then quickly explained it. I think he had two examples. That's all it took.

My out-of-date site where I follow none of this advice is on my profile. Tell me if you think its any good.

Tim