14 ways to an Impressive UX Design Portfolio

Why do you need a portfolio?

It is a demonstration of your:▷ Skills and talent▷ Personality▷ Accomplishments▷ Evidence of workwhich can be reviewed and compared to other Designers’ work.

“It is your first impression to be considered for a project

or a role.

Portfolio is your story

How do you make your story compelling enough to kick start a great conversation with your potential employer?

1.Know your audience

▷ You should know who they are and what they are looking for.

▷ How can you as a Designer add value to the team and the business.

2.Deep understanding of

your ‘User’

▷Does your portfolio showcase a strong understanding of users and how your designs have resulted in ‘Happy’ users?

3.Be Objective

▷Showcase in your portfolio your curiosity and passion for what motivates users for certain action.

▷The action can be a specific task you want them to do or an emotion or experience you want them to leave with.

4.Showcase your skills as

a Designer

▷Use case studies to show how you solved certain problems.

▷Examples where you can show through screenshots (or videos, sketches, and graphs):

Visual Design - icons, typography, colors, layouts.

UX Designers - wireframes, prototypes, flowchart, sitemap.

UX Researchers- Focus groups, interviews, personas, surveys.

5.Focussing on

Nonaesthetic aspects of Design

▷Showcase how you solved business problems and achieved certain objectives

6.Research process

▷Narrate your process of identifying user needs, and analyzing the data you collected.

6(a).Research process

Identifying User needs

▷What were the objectives and why did you chose a particular methodology.

▷Narrate through screenshots of research questions, in-depth interview videos etc.

6(b).Research process

Analyzing the data

▷What were the insights that drove you to certain conclusions?

▷How did you develop user personas?

7(a).Design process

Ideation

▷Show sketches, handwritten notes, and whiteboard pics of ideas you had brainstormed explaining the context to help viewer identify what you have tried to achieve.

7(b).Design process

Prototyping

▷Display your sketches, wireframes, and prototypes while also providing a snippet of what you achieved.

7(c).Design process

Usability Testing

▷Show how you collected data and what changes you made from the feedback.

8.Limited or no UX

experience

▷Look for companies that look for Designers at entry level, do side projects and show your work in your portfolio.

▷Don’t miss out the volunteering opportunities.

▷Connect with a mentor who can guide and help you learn fast.

9.Be a Results-oriented

Designer

▷Did you achieve any business objectives in the past projects?

▷Were you able to bring in more business such as:

More revenues. More customers.Achieve a higher customer

satisfaction (better user experiences).

10.Deliver your story

▷Make it compelling. ▷Categorize your stories in mini stories.

▷Add images and case studies in each.

▷Use rich, in-depth case studies

11.User friendly

▷Make your portfolio simple and easy to navigate.

▷Make it mobile friendly.

12.Dealing with NDAs (Do check with your clients first)

▷Blur sensitive info.▷Create sample of your work.▷Use text only version of your work.

13.Testimonials

▷Feature what your manager and team members have to say about your contribution to the project.

14.UX Learning

▷Show your curiosity for learning as a Designer.

▷Mention the name of books you recently read, UX classes you are taking, even non-UX courses related to design (such as Psychology, Marketing etc.).

We believe the future of innovation is through design – design that puts people first.

Need help with Design projects or hiring UX talent?Email us at hello@bayux.com

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for Design tips, jobs, and articles.

Newsletter Sign up