6-Step Guide to Building Your First UX Portfolio
Are you looking to break into the world of user experience design? Do you already have some skills and expertise in UX, but don’t have a portfolio to show for it yet? If so, this guide is for you.
Creating an effective UX portfolio can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first time. But with the right strategy and approach, anyone can build a great portfolio that will help them land their dream job or freelance gig.
Here are some tips to get started:
1. Define Your Goals
Before you start to build your portfolio, take a moment to consider what your end goal is. Are you looking to land a new job, or are you hoping to find clients for freelance work? Understanding this information before you begin creating your portfolio can help you to decide what content should go into it.
Whatever you decide, your portfolio should be tailored to the kind of work you want to do and the kind of people you want to reach.
2. Showcase Your Best Work
When selecting projects to include in your portfolio, it’s important to focus on only your best work—those pieces that showcase not just your technical skills, but also your creative thinking, problem solving capabilities, and any specializations or areas of expertise that are especially relevant to the current job market (e.g., mobile design).
It’s important to remember that quality is more important than quantity here! You don’t need to include every single project, but rather those that best demonstrate your capabilities and make the most impact (2-3 projects can be enough).
Carefully select those projects that highlight your strengths and are the most impressive to potential employers. This will ensure you make the most of what you have to offer and set yourself up for success.
3. Include Context & Detail
Once you’ve made your final decision on which projects make the cut, ensure each piece is backed up with enough context for viewers to understand its worth without needing too much prior knowledge. To do this, give a brief overview of each project with screenshots/images of before and after scenarios or other visuals. Highlight any successful outcomes achieved through innovative solutions as these sections deserve more detail than others.
This way, viewers can appreciate the value of the project and recognize the hard work that went into making it happen.
4. Add Conclusion
Adding a conclusion means essentially summarizing the key points and ideas that you have discovered during the course of the project. It is important to reflect on the most valuable lessons that you have learned from the project, and to consider what would be the next steps that you would take if you had more time and resources.
Writing a reflection on projects is a great way to gain insights into what went well and what could have been improved. It can also help you to identify how you could apply the lessons you have learned in the future, but also a powerful way to demonstrate to a reader how you have evaluated your own work and to present your thoughts and feelings on the project.
5. Think About Presentation
Think carefully about how you present each item within the overall structure of your website or page; consider things like font size/style choices, colour palette used throughout various sections, how images are displayed, and how much white space is used to break up content.
It all adds up towards creating an overall impression on viewers—so make sure everything looks polished and professional from start to finish! Make sure that the images used are clear and crisp, and that all text is visually accessible and appealing. Utilize the white space available to you; don’t be tempted to cram content together, as this can create a cluttered and unappealing look. Take time to think about the overall impression of your website or page, and make sure that it looks professional and attractive from start to finish.
6. Get Feedback From Peers & Professionals
Finally, once all elements have been carefully put into their respective places, it is essential to seek valuable feedback from people you trust, whether they are peers or professionals in the relevant field. This feedback should cover the visual presentation of each element, as well as the content included in the various sections of the website. This final step is key in ensuring that all items are presented in the best possible way before they are made available to the public online.