When presenting the outcome of your project, make sure to reflect back on the research findings you mentioned earlier. However, if you take the time to visualize your process and UX decisions, its more likely that it will get them interested. But as you take classes, participate in hackathons, and work through passion projects, your collection of materials will start to grow.. Using an unconventional color and building your portfolio around it is a great way to stand out from the crowd. Mina includes only three case studies in her UX design portfolio, which is within the ideal range. 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. Just imagine: what if the design lead or recruiter opens the case study that youve included only for the sake of having more case studies? 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. 7. These portfolios have sleek, pared-down interfaces that link out to the designer's body of work. Matchy.. If you aim to be a generalist, choose projects where you worked on all elements of the design process. Document your process and include visuals in your case studies. Each case study starts with a title and a concise description of the UX project. UX portfolios are made of UX case studies. Here is where you can show how you are able to take your research and apply it to your design. Dribbble, another popular UX portfolio platform, lets you share screenshots of your sketches, prototypes, and design concepts. About the Author oz Oz first started UX Beginner was a way to document his own journey to become a UX designer. Those numbers leave no room for doubt about the quality of WebFX's services. Try to include at least one live case study. And only a very few portfolios have that effect. Attending a hackathon gives you the opportunity to design a real app while collaborating with a real team of other designers, developers, and engineers. Yesha Shah 144 Followers It showcases the entire process in a step-by-step fashion. They may also need help with development and implementation (and the resources that go with it). Standard Standard Package. Showcasing your process is the most important part of a UX design case study. Design leads or recruiters will not read through 10 case studies, so its better to curate your best work only, like Nuwanthi does. Make sure your portfolio provides a good UX. Looking for a way to volunteer your UX design skills? Next, call attention to the research you and your team completed. You can learn more about her professional background on the About page. 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. Sometimes, the first project to go into your portfolio will be a UX project you worked on as part of a design course, UX bootcamp, or degree program. He paired these descriptions with rough sketches trying to solve those particular challenges. 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. I'll be honest, whenever a junior designer tells me they want their portfolio to be "unique" it almost always . This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Such narratives showcase designers' skills and ways of thinking and maximize their appeal as potential hires. For one, your story should be at the heart of your case study. Gabriel uses a similar outline for all his UX case studies. Of course the final design is important too, but they want to see how youve arrived there. These features include text ideas and guiding questions for copywriting, prototype embedding, scrollable mockups, galleries, statistics section and many, many more. UX is very much about strategy and if the person is not showing how they got from A to B, they appear to be another UI trying to move into a UX role. Tie great UX back to business value (how does solving a user problem impact the business in a positive way?). Portfolios for UX Researchers: Top 10 Recommendations Summary: A portfolio of past projects can advance the career of a UX researcher. Perhaps theres a non-profit organization, school, or small business in your community that could use a website or app redesign.. 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. They make up UX portfolios, alongside optional pages such as 'About Me' or 'Contact'. We dont understand the copy in Hyks Moje Osiedle case study, but we can see that he included plenty of visuals alongside the text to help his readers comprehension. Unfortunately, it's too easy for UX portfolios to be overloaded with device renderings, prototypes and huge blocks of research text. His favorite medium is photography and he is a lover of UX because it means constantly helping people. This is where youll select and showcase projects youre proud of and explain your design process from start to finish. Ability to discuss and explain your design decisions and back them up by applying customer insights and business metrics. Sagars Strategic Design for Misas Spectracase study walks us through his process from the challenge to research, ending with reflections. In UXfolio, this is a native feature both on the portfolio and the case study level. UX heavyweight, 3.5yrs+ experience, with light UI. 3. If well designed, small illustrations, nice flowcharts, redesigned deliverables can elevate a case study immensely. 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. This is your opportunity to articulate which user research methodologies fit into your design process. UX case studies are examples of design work which designers include in their portfolio. Include as many visuals in your case studies as possible: wireframes, personas, user flows, sketches, and even doodles if you please! Regardless of the platform you use, setting a password for your case studies doesnt take long. While its crucial that your case study is information-packed and an enjoyable read, but it also should be nice to look at. Usability testing results chart for a Wish design challenge. 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 He does a great job at using the blue accent color throughout the case study. In this blog post, I am explaining the purpose, structure, and best practices of a UI UX Design case study and portfolio. If you've never written a UX case study, don't worry. Yang presents the challenge, team, project duration, her role, and the skills she used to get it done in a clear and easy-to-read format. His passion project, Cultivate, lays out a clear problem to solve: theres a stigma around talking about mental health, particularly within the Black community. The intro is kept short, instead, he uses an About me to list the personal information a recruiter might be interested in. After all, this process is a huge part of user-centered design. Youve seen some of the best portfolios and youve probably realized that they share many similarities. Though the projects come from different fields, Gabriels portfolio still looks consistent, because he used the same template for his thumbnails. I'm feeling discouraged and like my work doesn't measure up. To get started, let's take a look at some general guidelines and best practices for your UX design portfolio. Our speakers were keen on conveying how important these case studies are, as recruiters won't simply take notice of your design outputs. Contact: This doesnt have to be its own page, but be sure to give recruiters a way to get in touch after youve wowed them with your work. While case study best practices are great pointers, ultimately it is the project at hand thatll determine your case studys structure and content. It could be attributed to the combination of the amazing illustration on his homepage and his bold choice of colors. Squarespace . About this Event. This case study does an excellent job of laying out user research findings. Rather than focusing on laying out their design thinking in long, formulaic case studies, they instead focus on simplicity. Telling the story of your design does not necessarily mean that a case study should be a list of methods and steps ending with a final design. Whats more, Sarah included lots of visuals such as information architecture maps, sketches, low-fidelity prototypes, brand application guidelines, and even slides from her final presentation. 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. The final section includes your Case Studies. UX Portfolio Case Study template sections Project Title & Subtitle (A headline and subtitle that indicates the name and goal of the project) Client/Company/Project type Project date (When did you work on the project) In this article, well walk through seven types of portfolio case studies you can add to your portfolio that dont require you already having a job. $120. Portio Hugo is a simple, minimal and responsive Portfolio Hugo Theme. The UX Portfolio Case Study template has 8 critical sections that recruiters are looking for. 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. 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. In the Mimic case study Josh decided to showcase the final designs by focusing on challenges and user needs. It creates a sense of cohesion even when some of your visuals include colorful pictures. It comes with templates and a repeatable structure that you can use to knock out UX case studies and portfolios. The Prescription tracker case study uses UXfolios sticky navigation section to help the readers comprehension of the projects stages: interviews, user journey, sketch, iterate, prototype, release. In her UX/UI case studies, Jaclyn gives honest and straightforward accounts mixed with well-crafted visuals to tell her design stories. Aesthetically pleasing branding strategies help them effectively reach more customers. 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. First consider the overall structure of your UX portfolio, which should demonstrate your skills and value as a designer. By the time were at the third, we know what to expect. What you need is a nice introduction, carefully selected fonts, and a nice, harmonizing color palette to create something beautiful. Pick an app or website that youre familiar with, and make it better through your design process.. Audreys bio and introduction are extremely straightforward. Its the starting point and the first impression. Present the right work, summarize your findings, and communicate clearly to showcase your skills. She uses arrows to point to a specific element. This allows recruiters to instantly recognize what she has experience in. By re-using this template, he creates a sense of familiarity and security as we click from one case study to the next. For each methodology, briefly introduce the technique and include why you used it, what you hoped to learn, the result, and how it influenced your design. When we hover over Natalies project thumbnails, you can read project subtitles like. A good overview can consist of the steps of your design process. All UX case studies should include relevant visuals as too much text can be intimidating for readers. Jeremy also highlights his visual design strengths with a full brand guide that highlights the meaning behind his design choices. Dorons case studies resemble the style of Behance. Its hard to choose a favorite from her 4 fantastic case studies. Minimalist portfolios. Her case study thumbnails from cohesion and her choice of shades make the entire portfolio look very professional. The result speaks for itself. He begins by setting the scene: we learn about his role, the problem, tools, and his approach/ideas. 1. 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. User flows are another great way to show the design you are working on: If user testing was part of your process, make sure to include what you learned from your iterative usability testing sessions here as well. What do you love most about design? Its not surprising, since shes an experienced UX/UI designer. During an interview with the e-commerce platform Wish, Tammy Taabassum completed a four-day design challenge where she was asked to improve the app in some way. It is her case study thumbnails that tie the whole portfolio page together visually by featuring mockups on grey backgrounds. Our job at UXfolio includes talking to world-renowned design leaders to find out what theyre looking for in portfolios. You could borrow this technique and present iterations based on user research to tell the story of a project. Many designers believe that the more youve worked in the industry the more case studies you need in your portfolio. The web design case study about the Chamos Language Academy illustrates that the case study format is ideal for almost any design-related project. A case study is an important tool for designers to showcase their skills and approach in a story format, to recruiters, hiring-mangers, colleagues, or fellow designers. User Research and Testing experience. David Travis. He presents interaction coupled with details on what caused problems for users and how this problem was solved. He uses the same color for his headings and the visuals in the case study, achieving a very put-together feel. The case study ends with the learnings. The takeaway from Maxs portfolio home page is that keeping your portfolio clutter-free will always be a winning strategy. So, all UX designers juniors and seniors alike need a UX portfolio. We had to pleasure of talking to some of the most innovative and influential UX designers in the industry, such as. In UX, case studies are what design leads and recruiters are looking for. We are looking for a dynamic UI/UX designer who will be responsible [] Felipe, whos a senior product designer, created a simple yet engaging UX designer portfolio. One glance at Valeries portfolio and it is evident that there has been significant time spent on its design. Having roughly the same size for all of your projects will keep consistency in check. Typically, most people choose to build their portfolio online, in the form of a website, as an additional layer of demonstration that they understand how to create effective digital interfaces and flows. This way you can be sure that you wont be judged based on mediocre work. More or less, the case study . Yet, each contains a nice balance of text and visuals. Dont be afraid to use the same for your case studies. To show this effectively, youll need to retell the start-to-finish narrative behind the process. Our high level goals were to: Make it fast and easy to use for everyone, everywhere. Job Role: A UI UX designer is a professional who identifies new opportunities to create better user experiences. 1. Only visitors with the password will have access to your work. Case study In the Toolbox case study, Carson wrote about the key challenges they faced during the wireframing phase. Roys Boulderr App case study has a good balance of visuals and texts. Itll make the time and effort you put into it much more worthwhile. Your homepage should include a compelling headline introducing who you are and what you do. We all know that UX goes beyond pretty screens. Recruiters and readers don't have hours to review your portfolio, so feature only 3-5 of your absolute best projects. Emi Lantz Emi Lantz's portfolio website opens with a simple statement, "Hi! This way we open each project with some background knowledge. She showcases her expertise and skills in 4 impactful case studies, focusing on. This is a level that many designers aspire to achieve, and so use these case studies as a source of inspiration and as something you can look up to. Whats more, they will also understand your work and case study quicker. Linhs Data Privacy Browser Extension case study is well-structured and engaging. Read about prioritizing personas, mapping user journeys and practical techniques to achieve an engaging user experience. Get XD Ideas delivered weekly to your inbox. Heres an example of a good structure to follow: Remember, hiring managers comb through a lot of portfolios, so its important to keep yours focused. If youre looking for an exemplary UX case study, check out Notch by Sarah! Portio Hugo is well organized, well-formatted, and named accordingly so it's easy to change any and all of the design. Charlees portfolio is embracing variety while still keeping it focused. Therefore, including a small but unexpected detail might just be your ticket for an interview. What is a UX case study? UX Design . Showing parts of the final UI on your thumbnails, like Danielle does, is a good way to arouse your visitors curiosity: theyll want to learn more about how youve arrived there. So, UX case studies play a significant role in UX designer's life. He grew up in Texas, matured in Colorado, and spent his late 20s living in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. But each section is important for an effective UX case study. Sarah put together a beautiful UX portfolio that emphasizes case studies above all else. UX Challenge The takeaway here is that you need to put in the effort and time to stand out. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals. Resist the urge to simply redesign the interface. On top of reading well, it includes beautiful, well-placed images with plenty of explanation. The goal, of course, is to showcase the skills you used on the project and help potential employers envision how you'd use those skills if you worked for them. If youre more interested in user research or user interface (UI) design, prioritize these elements in your case studies. Below are some examples of case study deliverables during the design phase. Therefore, they should always be in the forefront. 1. Its also an option to present more information about the projects right on your own portfolio home page. Thats where you can utilize Shubhams technique: create a thumbnail template that can be used for any project with only a few tweaks. A UX designer is an advocate for the end-users of a website or product. 2. The UX portfolio includes some big names and extended case studies of the work he has done for them. Writing case studies for your UX portfolio can feel opaque and overwhelming. On a similar note, remember that your case study describes your project, so feel free to let your individual personality shine through in your writing. My Role In her Bubs case study, we get a walkthrough of all the projects stages. To achieve a polished vibe, Roy kept all his personal and professional information to his About Me page. A UX Case Study Generator is a tool that serves up hypothetical UX design project ideas, problems, challenges or exercises that you can complete on your own to practice your UX skills or use to create UX Case studies and projects for UX/UI portfolio. Keep in mind that many nonprofits and small businesses may need more than just design. Jeremy begins his case study by introducing the service, then takes you behind the scenes to see his design process. 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. Setting the scene, as Gabriel does, is extremely important. Portfolio example: Tammy Taabassum - Wish Design Challenge. Follow his example! . And that reason is their audience. It definitely stands out from other portfolio layouts, while still utilizing the tried-and-true portfolio structure. A good intro section underpins the rest of your case study. These primary users are not interested in your blog or social media. 2. We find Melysias take on this aesthetic particularly stunning because she balances the serious tone of the black background with the colorful thumbnail backgrounds. After walking us through his process, we get to see a beautiful gallery of final UIs and a statistics section. Instead of an image, he uses a bright gif of his name that immediately catches visitors attention. This is your opportunity to show hiring managers how you think under pressure. Consider including hidden talents, interests, and anything else that is not design related that shows who you are as a person. Reading a clear introduction is just what recruiters need when they sift through dozens of portfolios. 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. Linh created a striking dusty-pink portfolio that places her introduction into the center via a simple yet eye-catching animated illustration. Its not rocket science, but there are certain guidelines to follow to make your portfolio a success. Whenever you are showcasing design changes or insights from users, think about how would you present the same things for your clients or boss. For example, sometimes a contextual inquiry is appropriate while other times it is not. But if youd like to get started building a portfolio for free, these platforms can help you showcase your work: 1. For one, your story should be at the heart of your case study. What makes for a great UX portfolio? You need to understand your user (or reader) and their needs, then develop the right solution for them. Hyk shows that there are more options to presenting UIs than device mockups: you can also experiment with placements and shadows. What is a UI & UX Design case study? Heres the proof that you dont have to overthink your UI/UX portfolio to achieve something great. A particularly interesting example is the website design he did for a group of lawyers offering free legal aid to travelers at Dulles Airport in response to the Muslim travel ban in 2017., Homepage concepts for #DullesJustice project. Bjorns case study thumbnails dont follow an obvious color story, yet they work together perfectly. It is a much better option than forcing clashing colors and elements next to each other. This article breaks down the anatomy of a UX case study to help you tell a simple and effective story that shows off your skills. Also, pay mind to your introduction. But, since they are under his own domain name on a dedicated website made with UXfolio, they have a more portfolio-ish aura to them. Though putting one together might seem like a huge undertaking, once you get an idea of what makes a great portfolio itll come easier. We created it specifically for UX professionals, so its packed with powerful features thatll help you through the portfolio-building process. Focus on process over finished product. Joshs portfolio is a great example of a project-focused portfolio. Pay special attention to details of each case study: general structure In the Progressive Leasing & Best Buy case studies there are photos of sketches, discovery, and user research to aid comprehension. Then, he conveys everything he and his team did in detail and with relevant visuals. All case studies should include a section with learnings. They utilize a great formula for naming UX/UI case studies: The Mise case study follows a great structure. A rising trend in the UX portfolio world is the ultra-minimalism seen from some senior designers. Create a platform for innovation and deeper engagement. 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. 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. How to design your UI/UX case study | Portfolio tips + detailed walkthrough Rachel How 150K subscribers Subscribe 6K 123K views 1 year ago Tips on how to prepare your UX/UI Design case. Choose projects that are fun or interesting to you and that youd be proud to display in your 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. In this article, well dive into this further and highlight some UX case study examples, templates, and more. UX/UI case studies can include the following: 1. She keeps it sleek with the white background of her portfolio front page, using one of UXfolios streamlined templates. What is the work of a UX designer? He included three UX case studies and 3 collections for the rest of his work. This gives the whole portfolio an airy and light feel. Great case studies combine the following ingredients: While your home page and case studies are the most important elements of your portfolio, you should take it a step further. Join Khrys to learn more! If you dont want your portfolio to be public, you can set a password for your entire portfolio. The case study walks through the projects user research, product design iterations, validation through user testing, and user journey map before wrapping up with key takeaways and lessons learned.. And its worth hovering for these titles and subtitles! He gives an outline of the project and an overview of his approach, then walks through the steps of research, ideation, design, and presentation.. In her Love, Bonito project, Valerie summarizes the case study by indicating the steps she took in order to reach the final outcome. They also ensure that the end-to-end journey with their products or services meets desired outcomes. Pixpa is an all-in-one portfolio building tool, offering modern, pixel-perfect templates, an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, customisable gallery layouts to showcase your work, and affordable pricing plans. In the end, we can try a working prototype, which makes the entire case study even more engaging. Choose student projects with realistic constraints and real business value. In Danielles portfolio, the spotlight is on the UIs. The Notch case study could be used as a template by any designer whos not scared of copywriting. However, we can get a glimpse of her storytelling skills in the BizTrip case study. Your Cover Page should include a hero image, as well as your name and current job title. 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 .