Take a user-centered approach to designing your portfolio. Despite the fact that these unsolicited redesigns are pure passion projects, Priyanka lends them the credibility they deserve by documenting her process in detail. UI (user interface) design focuses on the graphical interface that users interact with and how it works and responds to users, including navigational elements such as menus, buttons, and icons. For each case study in your UX portfolio, provide as much context as you can. Well look at these in some detail to make sure you understand the context for each, as well as what you can learn from them. While theres no hard and fast rule about the number of projects to include in your portfolio, consider featuring three to five in-depth case studies. When we surveyed 963 user-experience professionals, we found that presenting solutions and concepts was by far the most commonly reported job activity. Companies value hands-on experience and the ability to extract value from research. Along the way, Ive learned a few things about building and strengthening a UX research portfolio, and Im happy to share some of the gems. This is a great way to demonstrate initiative and show that youre a proactive designer who is willing to go the extra mile. Write about the methods you used, what you learned along the way, the challenges you came up against, and how you solved certain problems. With the new design, the set of tasks took 6 minutes. I made a full career pivot to UX design. Just like Elizabeth, support each case study with meaningful visualsthat is, real artifacts from your project, not just illustrations. To see a live portfolio review with a seasoned UX designer, check out this video: Beyond this, you want to make sure that your portfolio meets these criteria: To learn more about these five criteria (and how to meet them), read more in this guide: Five Golden Rules to Build a Job-Winning UX Design Portfolio. From seasoned researchers looking to level up to new researchers looking to get their bearings, Eniola helps researchers focus their practice. Follow the link to get started for free. Begin creating your portfolio with an understanding of what people reading it will want to know. One great place to start is by taking a free UX design short course to make sure youre cut out for this area of the design field. Include these details to demonstrate your commitment to continuous growth! Select the projects that you feel are most important or best represent the type of work that you would like to take on in the future. Here, he links to articles hes written on Medium, additional projects hes worked on, as well as upcoming endeavors. If you received feedback during your challenge, include it in your case study. There are two key lessons we can learn from Olivias portfolio: first, start each case study by framing the problem in detail, and second, frame the problem in a way that conveys empathy. He takes us on a logical journey, putting the design challenge into context before going through competitor analysis, interviews and surveys, building empathy and creating user personas, defining the information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing. They design products and tools so that they are more useful and accessible for users. 4. As always, frame the problem, document your process, and tell a good storyand dont forget to include a disclaimer. By the time we scroll down to Veras process, its easy to see where each step fits into the overall project. Just like Moritz, she presents her design work in the form of case studies, documenting her process from start to finish. Secondly, state your role on each project. What stories would you tell? If you want easy recruiting from a global pool of skilled candidates, were here to help. Now its time to contemplate the power of beautiful UI! Its okay to include screenshots of a beautiful end product, but make sure youve documented your process in detail first. At the same time, dont overwhelm the viewer: a hiring manager looking through your portfolio probably wont browse through ten UX case studies, so choose wisely! Well also take a look at how working UX designers present these types of case studies in their portfolios, and offer some takeaways and tips for making your portfolio shine. Whats your approach to solving problems? 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. Are you fun and quirky? Work: Describe a SUMMARY your research plan and rationale. Here are seven examples of great UX research with the help of product experience insights tools to get you inspired. Vera Chen is a product designer and former Facebook intern. I loved the process of going through the UX researchfrom user interviews to competitive analysisit gave me an appreciation for the pre-work that goes into a product before you start putting pixels together. Tammy presents her case study as a slidedeck that lays out the challenge and the four steps of her design process. A strong portfolio tells a story that is tailored to engaging specific members of your audience. Your portfolio website should reflect your personal brand, and visual design plays a crucial role. By now, Gloria has well and truly piqued the viewers interest. Next, you can then to enroll in a UX design certification programpreferably one that provides personalized UX mentorship and portfolio reviews. Zara Drei is a London-based UX designer. Theres even a cottage industry to help people develop effective Leon Zhang 5.7K Followers Product Design Lead @ Godaddy. Employers and potential clients want to know who you are and what youre all aboutand they should be able to find this out within seconds of landing on your portfolio website. User Experience Researcher at Meta | Career Coach. Build a career you love with 1:1 help from a career specialist who knows the job market in your area! Your information will be used in accordance with Google Privacy Policy and you may opt out at any time by clicking unsubscribe at the bottom of each communication. 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. In her case study, Phyllis is upfront about the constraints of the project, as well as what her team chose to focus on and why. Choose student projects with realistic constraints and real business value. Her teams challenge was to design an app to help college students better connect with their classmates. User journey map from the Cultivate case study. Lets get to it! When reading Olivias case study, you dont get the feeling that shes just going through the motions; shes genuinely engaged in the problem and how she can solve it for the user. Its true that presentation matters when it comes to portfolios, but visual appeal is a secondary concern. Your portfolio, just like your research skills, will improve with time and effort. Some of the best portfolios Ive seen incorporate samples of the deliverables for a case study. Perhaps youre all about eco-friendly design. Here are 10 recommendations about how to create a UX portfolio that showcases your research skills. With a bit of iteration and polish after the fact, you can transform these challenges (especially the take-home ones) into fresh material for your portfolio. Document your process and include visuals in your case studies. Get a hands-on introduction to UX design with our free, self-paced UX Design Short Course. Dribbble, another popular UX portfolio platform, lets you share screenshots of your sketches, prototypes, and design concepts. The Google UX Design Certificate courses are 100-percent online learning. How will you measure the impact of your work? Reflection:Described what you learned about yourself as a researcher through this project. Whats also interesting is how Priyanka chooses to showcase these redesigns. They may also need help with development and implementation (and the resources that go with it). It is important to share the decisions youve made and the thought processes behind them. What was your return on investment (ROI)? If youre more interested in user research or user interface (UI) design, prioritize these elements in your case studies. Eniola There is no standard template and yet they all reflect the personality of their respective researcher. Tie your project to business results if possible. If you still need projects to fill the gaps in your portfolio, you have plenty of options. Be respectful of the original designers, and try not to insult their work. Keep the most important information in mind and dont get distracted by details that are ultimately secondary to what your audience needs to learn. If you see yourself as a specialist in a certain industry, highlight the projects that demonstrate this. Share your research question(s), intended outcome, and decisions you sought to influence (i.e., intended impact). This brings us to Zara Dreis portfoliothe epitome of digital elegance. Building a portfolio of student, personal, or volunteer projects shows the type of skills that you will need in this field. Zara specializes in creating digital products and experiences for luxury, fashion, and beauty brands, and this is reflected in every detail of her portfolio. 12 Inspiring UX Portfolio Examples. Early on in your UX career, you might struggle to fill your portfolio with real projects. Talk to users today. This is crucial if you want to practice UX for a living, but its a trick that many designers tend to miss. Brittany, Digital Designer at Deloitte and Google UX Design Certificate graduate, Luc, UX/UI Designer at METER Group and Google UX Design Certificate graduate, Rachel, Visual Designer at Epic! But as a researcher, you may wonder what exactly belongs in your portfolio. View Elizabeth Lins full portfolio website. 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. End result:Briefly (again) describe your insights and how you translated them into product opportunities or recommendations. Now, without further ado, here are our top nine UX design portfolio examples. View Daniel Autrys full portfolio website. Corporate and serious? Is a Master's in Computer Science Worth it. You know youve improved the user experience, but how do you substantiate that? First, she treats us to a bold, eye-catching headline that describes her in terms of her favorite activities. Briefly describe the goals of the project, its duration, users studied and the projects findings. What tell-tale signs will you look out for after youve launched or relaunched the product? We also engaged in the indie-musician discord groups to understand more One of the biggest challenges youll face as a UX designer is measuring and demonstrating the impact of your work. Expect that your portfolio will be reviewed by recruiters, hiring managers, and executives who do not work directly in your field. Are you user-centric? If your project had multiple phases, separate each phase by research question. Share who you collaborated with and what your unique role/contribution was. This is particularly important when giving background on the problem you set out to solve. Summary:A portfolio of past projects can advance the career of a UX researcher. For further tips and advice on building your own UX design portfolio, check out these articles: If youd like an inside look at how hiring managers will evaluate your portfolio, check out this video where Dee analyses some more UX design portfolios: And finally, if youre a UX designer looking to specialize, weve also written guides to build portfolios for UX writing and UX research. UX Design. Theyll provide feedback, support, and advice as you build your new career. *Complete in 6 months, under 10 hours per week. High-fidelity prototypes from an unsolicited redesign of Houzz. View Olivia Truongs full portfolio website. WebCurrent UX designers and researchers at Google will serve as your instructors, and you will complete hands-on activities that simulate real-world UX design scenarios. In fact, scrolling through Zaras portfolio is like wandering through the beauty department of a high-end store, or flipping through the pages of a glossy magazineand thats no accident. Include a section outlining next steps if you were to continue the work. Whether theyre starting from scratch or upskilling, they have one thing in common: They go on to forge careers they love. If youve got lots more work you want to showcase, add a separate section. Olivias portfolio portrays her as a thoughtful problem-solvergranting her huge bonus points in the eyes of any recruiter or potential client. There are many ways to assess impactexplain how youre measuring the results of your research and how a team, company, or product improved thanks to your work. Gloria Lo is a self-taught product designer based in Sydney, Australia. Note : I skimmed through Shawns Grubhub UX project case study. Clearly state your role in the project and explain which parts you were directly responsible for. If so, what were the pros and cons of each? This fully online program provides the skills you need for an entry-level job in UX design, with no prior experience required. The UX portfolio includes some big names and extended case studies of the work he has done for them. Shes gone out of her way to redesign an entire digital experience, just because shes passionate about good UXhow cool is that?! Whether youre starting from scratch or breathing new life into your existing portfolio, there are certain ground rules youll need to bear in mind. Youll find plenty of benefits to working as an interneven if youre unpaidincluding: Portfolio example: Ricardo Hernndez Prez, Adobe. Potential employers often ask candidates to present their portfolios or case studies in the interview process to understand how you think through research and address high-level questions that come up. These companies span multiple sectors and are committed to considering Google Career Certificate graduates for entry-level jobs. Homepage concepts for #DullesJustice project. As well as user experience and application design on Mobile and web also Saas products Helps More than 60 small businesses, startups, and companies to solve problems, and spread His passion project, Cultivate, lays out a clear problem to solve: theres a stigma around talking about mental health, particularly within the Black community. Each case study starts with a title and a concise description of the UX project. After the event, Yang even added an illustration showing how the app would bridge the gap between user experience and business value based on feedback from hackathon judges. 97% of the people who responded to our survey said that they regularly needed to communicate these ideas to a larger group. Just because youve never completed UX design work for a paying client doesnt mean you have to apply for your first job with an empty portfolio. Your submission has been received! I just found a of a resource about how to put together your UX research portfolio byKarina Hickey. Moritz Oesterlau is a multi-skilled product/UX designer based in Germany. In addition to expert training and hands-on projects designed to prepare you for a job in user experience (UX) design, you'll get access to a resume building tool, mock interviews and career networking support designed to help you with your job search. Show how you incorporated it into your design. The Google UX Design Certificate was designed and built by subject-matter experts and senior practitioners at Google. Luckily, its possible to craft a stellar portfolio that shows off your skills before youve ever had a paying client. Focus on solving a real problem. Zenprint: 7% reduction in bounce rate. In her own words, she is passionate about improving the lives of others through design, and is constantly looking to learn new things everyday. At the end of the project, ask for a letter of recommendation for future jobs. For each step, he explains what he did, why he did it, and what he learned as a result. Take part in one of our FREE live online UX design events with industry experts, and read up on UX graduate Alices career change from corporate banking. Moritz doesnt just show the finished product; he shares, in detail, all the methods and processes that got him there. Vera doesnt just outline the problem statement for each case studyshe steeps it in a solid back story, describing the events that led her there. The first week is free. Olivia kicks off her case study by framing the problem in a personal, relatable way. Zenprint provides order and wholesale digital printing services in the Australian market. Watch UX Portfolios, 3 minute video with Help them feel confident in that decision by concentrating your case studies on the impact of your past research projects. Behance offers a free online portfolio platform for creative work, including UI, UX, and graphic design. Update your portfolio Oh, and these verbs light up in different colors when you hover over thema nice additional dash of personality! You'll learn the skills you need for an entry-level role in less than six months, no degree or prior experience required. Nice! If youre a new UX designer trying to build up your portfolio, take a leaf out of Priyankas book and complete some unsolicited redesigns of your own. She could just stick to the standard case study format, but as we know, shes the kind of designer who likes to go above and beyond. Think about a problem in your own life you wish had a solution, or an app youd love to have on your phone. When Priyanka runs into bad UX, she cant help but do something about it. What lesson did you carry forward into future projects? Saurabh presently works as Staff Where else can you look for UX design portfolio inspiration? View Priyanka Guptas full portfolio website. shows you know what a good, polished final product looks like. Portfolio example: Clayton Hopkins - #DullesJustice. In this guide, well take a closer look at WebI am an Egyptian visual product designer based in Dubai I have 16+years of experience divided between Brand designer, UI-UX design, print, social media, and logo design. Olivias portfolio does a great job of this, as youll see in her Routr case study. In other words, Daniel has found the number that works for him: He features just enough projects to showcase his range as a designer, while still keeping it limited enough so as not to overwhelm the usersmart UX design in action! QQ:What would your portfolio look like if creating one was both easy and fun to you? And, of course, all of these insights should come gift-wrapped in a visually engaging, user-friendly package. Thank you! Eniola Abioye helps UX Researchers improve their research strategy. Above all else, UX designers are problem-solvers. It has been incredibly rewarding to put these new skills to work in real life scenarios. After thoroughly framing the problem and describing her approach to solving it, Olivia moves onto The Making Of Routr. Notice how, even when talking about her solution, Olivia consistently refers back to the original user problem. Originally from England, Emily moved to Berlin after studying French and German at university. If you aim to be a generalist, choose projects where you worked on all elements of the design process. Besides his four featured projects, Daniels portfolio also includes a section dedicated to Other Works. Plain language in writing is always recommended, but it is particularly important when writing a portfolio. Ideally, you should be able to show insights from both large-scale projects and smaller guerilla research efforts. How do you keep your team updated as you conduct research? Call out how you collaborated with your team and *gasp* how you invited them into your research process. Seriously, we're fast. Something went wrong while submitting the form. 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