Though putting one together might seem like a huge undertaking, once you get an idea of what makes a great portfolio itll come easier. Nobody wants to look at a cramped portfolio and as much as you want to squeeze everything into a thumbnail you need to make some cuts to keep it simple. When choosing projects for your portfolio go for impactful ones that. On top of reading well, it includes beautiful, well-placed images with plenty of explanation. We recommend checking out Melysias B&D case study. These can pull together even your weirdest projects into a coherent whole. Where teams create the worlds best experiences at scale, powered by the leader in creative tools. The first week is free. To get started, let's take a look at some general guidelines and best practices for your UX design portfolio. Just because the front page is traditionally for projects dont be afraid of including a separate page for a longer introduction or some extra details you might see fit in your portfolio. Design leads or recruiters will not read through 10 case studies, so its better to curate your best work only, like Nuwanthi does. Copyright 2019-2023 Adobe. Its also an option to present more information about the projects right on your own portfolio home page. a short but revealing sentence for subtitle. Follow the link to get started for free., An unsolicited redesign (sometimes called an uninvited redesign) is an excellent way to show off your skills before you ever land your first job as a UX designer. When reviewing candidates, design leads always check their portfolios first. Its not rocket science, but there are certain guidelines to follow to make your portfolio a success. When opening the portfolio, the lightweight case study thumbnails immediately draw attention. UX content designer Nikki St.-Cyr's portfolio features several full-length case studies that are well-organized and detailed. Besides a short introduction, her projects take center stage on her home page. For one, your story should be at the heart of your case study. Linh used descriptive and straightforward case study titles that make you want to read more. Such narratives showcase designers' skills and ways of thinking and maximize their appeal as potential hires. Trailer 2:32 2. Knowledge of UX methods and their application. However, we can get a glimpse of her storytelling skills in the BizTrip case study. Of course, the number of iterations you present is not set in stone. Side projects or other work: If you have case studies or graphic design work beyond your few highlighted projects, give them a separate section where those who would like to see more can find them. Leslie Griffiths portfolio breaks with the tradition of one-note UX portfolios. The best case studies are simple stories that can be re-told in your absence and the POWER framework provides the scaffolding . Be sure to mention what you would have done differently if you did.. Jeremy also highlights his visual design strengths with a full brand guide that highlights the meaning behind his design choices. Stockwell agrees as they put it, "WebFX's services have impacted our core business by assisting with the brand awareness . By re-using this template, he creates a sense of familiarity and security as we click from one case study to the next. Behance offers a free online portfolio platform for creative work, including UI, UX, and graphic design. Gabriel uses a similar outline for all his UX case studies. On his case study thumbnails, he achieves visual consistency by showing mockups in front of bright, rectangular shapes. These primary users are not interested in your blog or social media. If youre wondering what a senior UX designer portfolio should look like, check out Nuwanthis! Consider including screenshots of your design with call-outs of key changes inspired by your usability testing like this: Now its time to show your final designs. Thats because Nicola experimented with the device mockups arrangement on each thumbnail. This is a more holistic approach instead of the usual process-explanation take. Minimalist portfolios. While its crucial that your case study is information-packed and an enjoyable read, but it also should be nice to look at. A case study should reflect a meaningful, learning or growth design experience where you worked with real stakeholders and created something of value for the customers. Such behind-the-scenes details can set you apart from the hundreds of other designers who are only showcasing their final, polished works. Its because he used the same text styles and naming formulas on each. But need someone to work a little on the research part and the to do some ux activities and to have it in a presentation pdf. This technique gives a sense of closeness and raises the credibility factor of a case study. Those numbers leave no room for doubt about the quality of WebFX's services. Depending on your amount of experience and personal preferences, you may also choose to include the following pages: Resume: Give it its own page on the site or link to it. Charlees portfolio is embracing variety while still keeping it focused. These should be your best work, and you can always swap them out for new case studies as you gain experience. UX heavyweight, 3.5yrs+ experience, with light UI. Most of her info is reserved for the About page, allowing her work to take center stage. Mention what tasks you worked on. 1. $120. We could look at this portfolio for hours (and we do come back to it from time to time) for a very simple reason: it makes us smile. This case study does an excellent job of laying out user research findings. The first thing we see when landing on the portfolio is a high-quality photo of Bjorn, with a friendly smile on his face, alongside a short design manifesto. Its also worth noting how she includes the orange accent color and typography in her portfolio and CV, even though theyre separate: one is a website the other a downloadable PDF document. It just shows that you could have both a professional social media presence and a portfolio website without having to create separate designs. Setting the scene, as Gabriel does, is extremely important. After all, this process is a huge part of user-centered design. Case studies are an essential part of a UX portfolio. The list below outlines a few 100-percent online, self-paced programs that you can use to expand your UX design skills and bulk up your portfolio. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), HTML, UI/UX design, React, JavaScript, Web Development Tools, User Interface, Front-End Web Development, HTML and CSS, Responsive Web Design, Test-Driven Development, Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), Linux, Web Development, Bash (Unix Shell), Github, Version Control, Debugging, React (Web Framework), Web Application, Application development, Unit Testing, Web Design, User Experience (UX), Accessibility, Pseudocode, Algorithms, Communication, Data Structure, Computer Science. UXfolio gives you the power to set up passwords on the portfolio and the case study level. Remember, they were working with a brief and real-world constraints.. He begins by setting the scene: we learn about his role, the problem, tools, and his approach/ideas. Sidneys My Fave Places case study contains a fantastic Lessons Learned that wraps up everything in the best possible way. HCI graduate student, Victoria, demonstrates that you can create a unique UX designer portfolio without ending up with an over-designed mess. Below are some examples of case study deliverables during the design phase. -Lend your graphic design skills to a worthy cause with donate:code. Her project got her an internship, as well as a stellar portfolio piece. Be sure to take photos of your work when completing a whiteboard challenge during an interview.. I'm a former teacher transitioning into a career in UX. 1. This is your opportunity to highlight your design-thinking skills and what went into each of your design decisions. You should never inflate the number of words in your case study just for the sake of it because itll become a chore to read it. Both analytical data and learnings would be impactful closures for a case study, but combining the two is even better! 1. 7. Since she is a product designer, her showcased projects are all digital products. To give recruiters vital insights, designers tell compelling stories in text and images to show how they handled problems. In the Pebble Health case study Alexander showcased a whole Visual Design Evolution, explaining how he applied an existing visual language to a new platform. CarbonMade : Andrea Azcurra: Andrea is a seasoned UX writer and content strategist with a love of design thinking and user experience. What I most enjoy about Kurt's UX portfolio: It doesn't feel like a UX portfolio. Is a Master's in Computer Science Worth it. . Usability testing results chart for a Wish design challenge. Google UX Design Professional Certificate, Meta Front-end Developer Professional Certificate, Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate, Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate, Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Architect, DeepLearning.AI TensorFlow Developer Professional Certificate, Free online courses you can finish in a day, 10 In-Demand Jobs You Can Get with a Business Degree. UX portfolio and case study templates in a click In UXfolio everything's just a click away: UX portfolio templates, UX case study generator, stunning galleries for your UIs, auto-generated device mockups, copywriting help, community and expert feedback and much-much more! This upbeat portfolio page by junior product designer, Shubham, mixes great text-styling techniques, pops of vibrant colors, and the space-filling effect of large project thumbnails. If you are creating case studies solely for the purpose of populating your portfolio, I guarantee those won't be competitive enough. But as you take classes, participate in hackathons, and work through passion projects, your collection of materials will start to grow.. A hackathon project in your portfolio can demonstrate that you can: Think critically and solve problems under pressure, Yang Qian, a product designer at Palantir Technologies, presents a case study from a three-day LinkedIn hackathon for design and engineering students. Give it a try! The 9 Best UX Design Portfolio Examples [Updated For 2023] Courses Programs to change your career UX Design UI Design Full-Stack Web Development Data Analytics Digital Marketing new Product Management new Introductory courses Intro to UX Design Intro to UI Design Intro to Frontend Development Intro to Data Analytics Intro to Digital Marketing new A UX design portfolio is a collection of design case studies that showcases your skillset and your approach to the design process as a whole. Many interviews include a design challengean interactive test meant to show how you think. User Research and Testing experience. This can be a good tactic if you have NDA-protected work that you want to showcase without exposing it to the whole world. Thats where you can utilize Shubhams technique: create a thumbnail template that can be used for any project with only a few tweaks. Method or hypothesis for solving the problem, Design iterations (sketches, wireframes, low and high-fidelity prototypes). Realistically, a product will continue to grow in an iterative process; explaining the direction the product is heading or talking about features that are coming up in future iterations is a great way to showcase this. Whats more, Jaclyn wrote an engaging and memorable About page, which is a hard thing to do. The UX portfolio includes some big names and extended case studies of the work he has done for them. What are some key companies or brands you have worked with? Itll make your job easier and itll help your audience too, as theyll know what to expect from your next one. A UX portfolio is a collection of case studies that reveal your design process and skills through the story of design projects you've been part of. When you are designing your own portfolio homepage pay attention to whitespace and margins. Sometimes one sentence, an image, and a clear navigational menu is enough., Your About page is the place to go into a bit more detail about who you are and how you got started in UX, especially if youve switched from another career., Early on in your UX journey, you may not have a ton of design work to include in your portfolio. If you dont want to add too many case studies to your portfolio (or you just dont have enough projects yet) using larger thumbnails is a great way to fill the space in your portfolio. An unsolicited redesign gives you the structure of an existing product to start withincluding an established target user basewhile allowing you to put your user experience skills to work. Besides brightening up the case studies, they create cohesion and connection through her projects. User Experience Strategist @userfocus. Writing case studies for your UX portfolio can feel opaque and overwhelming. Job Role: A UI UX designer is a professional who identifies new opportunities to create better user experiences. However all UX design portfolios need to balance an engaging visual experience with one that enhances usability. Her case study titles and subtitles are effective too. You want to select projects that demonstrate your UX process, your problem-solving skills . Most of Rachels case studies are password-protected. Its hard to choose a favorite from her 4 fantastic case studies. She digs into the insights and challenges uncovered during her user research, points back to other apps where she found inspiration and ideas, redefines the Wish apps information architecture, and validates her design with usability testing. Document your process and include visuals in your case studies. Since Denise has experience in UX as well as UI design, she included more projects in her portfolio than the average designer would. Case studies aren't just for UX portfolios or for consulting proposals: they provide a narrative to describe your work to friends and colleagues. They also ensure that the end-to-end journey with their products or services meets desired outcomes. In the Spotify case study Audrey presents usability improvements by showcasing the final UIs and indicating what changed and why. 3. Ricardo lays out this case study in a clean, minimalistic way. Pay special attention to details of each case study: general structure Meta Front-end Developer Professional Certificate: Throughout this program, you'll manage a project in GitHub using version control, Git repositories, and the Linux terminal. Make sure to link this section from your introduction at the top of your case study in case your readers want to jump straight to it. Victorias take reassures us that app concepts are perfect material for UX case studies, as they show even more of your personality and perspective on design. The Storytelling Approach in UX Case Studies An essential part of the portfolio of a UX designer is the case studies that pack a showcase of the designer's skills, way of thinking, insights in the form of compelling stories. About this Event. Tammy presents her case study as a slidedeck that lays out the challenge and the four steps of her design process. He does a great job at using the blue accent color throughout the case study. Work through the entire process, including user research (your friends and family can be your first test subjects). Meanwhile, the subtitle describes the scope of the project. Then design it. You'll also have the opportunity to participate in a Capstone project to build the front end of a web application. Designing a few UX case studies for your portfolio is a powerful way to help you stand out among the crowd. You can do that by creating enticing case study thumbnails and featuring them on your home page. Setting the thumbnail titles to appear on hover only adds to the weightless feel of the home page. Ready to land your dream job? This way you wont have to leave out anything from your portfolio, but you wont clutter it either. Follow his example! Mood boards and style guides. Mina does well on both ends. He paired these descriptions with rough sketches trying to solve those particular challenges. Throughout his case studies, he used many of UXfolios built-in device mockups, so theres a feeling of coherence even between different case studies. How are they different from UX portfolios? So, UX case studies play a significant role in UX designer's life. If you aim to be a generalist, choose projects where you worked on all elements of the design process. Portio Hugo is a simple, minimal and responsive Portfolio Hugo Theme. Portio Hugo is well organized, well-formatted, and named accordingly so it's easy to change any and all of the design. Give riders more control over their time and money. The takeaway here is that you need to put in the effort and time to stand out. Here are the most common user research methods: As you explain the process for your methodology, answer these key questions: A comparative and competitive analysis is a good way to describe the results and what you learned, as shown below: Or, you can include your key takeaways in bullet points, as shown in this example: Next, walk the reader through your design phase. Case Studies; Customer Stories Resources Open Source GitHub Sponsors. Quentins was built on the less is more principle. His favorite medium is photography and he is a lover of UX because it means constantly helping people. Present the right work, summarize your findings, and communicate clearly to showcase your skills. Quentin begins with a short overview of the project, then makes a fantastic transition onto the design process by stating the problem. These portfolios have sleek, pared-down interfaces that link out to the designer's body of work. Remember, your UX portfolio is for busy clients and hiring managers (the users). -Join a Code for America brigade to help design new tools for local communities. Being honest, owning your mistakes, admitting what could have been done better and what you have learned during the project shows humility and your willingness to grow. All UX case studies should include relevant visuals as too much text can be intimidating for readers. UX Case Study template A UX case study is a detailed but summarized presentation of a design project, its goals and objectives, the research methods used, the process to find a solution and the results achieved. Its structure is fantastic. Showcase your process, not just the finished product. Throughout the previous years, long case studies have been the standard among UXers. Dont be afraid to use the same for your case studies. 2. Sagars home page features large thumbnails with illustrations of similar style. They also care about how you think. Your homepage should include a compelling headline introducing who you are and what you do. Objective: The objective of this project was to design a responsive newsletter website for my college society that would provide an informative platform for students . Join Khrys to learn more! Its the starting point and the first impression. Thus, it is a great template for you if you dont feel like creating separate sections for the research insights or simply want to showcase final UIs as soon as possible. New Best Practices for Leading Hybrid Creative Teams, The Time Is Now to Empower Emerging Designers with a New Approach to Design Education, Translating User Research into User Experience Design, How Julia Feld Uses UX to Help Immigrants & Refugees, Do not sell or share my personal information. On top of detailed descriptions, she included plenty of photos and artifacts, making it easier for her readers to process all this information. What is even better that he still shows some final UIs or design elements on the thumbnails so you can get a sense of his overall work even though you cant peek further. Instead of an image, he uses a bright gif of his name that immediately catches visitors attention. After working with many designers throughout my own career and helping many more build their job-ready portfolios, there are a few designers that I keep coming back to for inspiration and some that are inspiring a new generation of UI/UX and Product Designers to enter the field.. I've chosen 10 of our favorite UI/UX and Product Designersa colorful tapestry of digital product architects that . Showcasing your process is the most important part of a UX design case study. Our ambitions were to create a strong foundation that embraced a rapidly evolving business and more diverse user base. They may also need help with development and implementation (and the resources that go with it). He understands that its not the number of projects in a portfolio that makes an experienced designer, but their quality and scope. How did you end up in design? When in doubt, you can always rely on semi-realistic mockups, that have similar borders and shadows. These research-based design decisions are at the heart of user-centered design. Google UX Design Professional Certificate: In addition to earning a Professional Certificate from an industry leader, this online course can be used to add three different end-to-end projects to your portfolio: User Experience (UX), UX Research, Wireframe, Prototype, User Experience Design (UXD), Usability Testing, mockup, Figma, Adobe XD, UX design jobs. The web design case study about the Chamos Language Academy illustrates that the case study format is ideal for almost any design-related project. Highlight your specialty. A service that uses plant care as a method to empower users to cultivate (and talk about) their own mental health., User journey map from the Cultivate case study. Her custom thumbnails use the same mockup styles, yet they dont feel repetitive at all. The Pain Points and User Motivation section gives a detailed description while remaining easy to follow thanks to the content structure. Another option for a case study you can complete without any formal UX design experience is to build a concept app or website from scratch. You can also create a GIF to showcase certain user flows like this: Or, feel free to take a simple approach with mockups like this: After you blow the reader away with your impressive final design, you can address the next steps in your design process.