10 UX portfolio examples you can replicate today
Finding the right start point for creating an effective UX portfolio can be so difficult. What should I include in my UX portfolio case studies? Should the portfolio be detailed or short and concise? How long should it really be?
Even the inspirational portfolio roundups you find online, seem not to have a consistent understandable structure that you can practically replicate to create your own portfolio. Which portfolio structure should you follow?
I wish to share with you 10 similar UX portfolio examples of successful hires at companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Uber so that you can replicate today whether you have a portfolio that you are working on or not. Each one has a proven and consistent structure to how they showcase their case studies that is easy to follow. When I was looking for a job in design, I did not have a guideline to work from and I don’t want you to go through the same frustrating steps I went through. My portfolio was never finished and I felt paralyzed at the thought that the portfolio was not good enough.
By the end of this article you should not only know how to identify good portfolios but understand what makes them super relevant and appealing to recruiters.
Design for the user
I think it’s worth mentioning that a good portfolio case study always takes into consideration its audience’s needs, which in this case in the recruiter. As a hiring manager for my design team, there is nothing more frustrating than going through portfolios that are irrelevant to the type of work we do or the role we are recruiting for.
UX Portfolio structure
Let’s take a look at what makes a good portfolio structure whether its a self hosted site, on a design community account (Behance, Dribbble), on a design tool web link (Figma link), or a simple offline presentation format (PDF, slides). I personally host my portfolio on Behance because its for free, easy to update, is always live and I don’t have to pay for website hosting fees. End of the day, the platform or format you chose does not matter. We have interviewed and recruited job candidates who had a simple Google slides presentation.
All good UX portfolios will have
- An introduction of the designer, what they do and what they want the recruiters or potential clients to know. For instance, mentioning your location makes it easier for clients to work with you and for recruiters to decide whether they can work with you remotely or in office.
If you are not sure how to introduce yourself you can read this article which has 50 portfolio introductions that you can learn from.
- A list of case studies that are relevant to the type of work you are applying to and that the recruiting companies specializes in. If you applying to an agency that does web applications, put web application case studies in your portfolio. In terms of quantity, 2 to 4 really good case studies should be enough to showcase your skills depending on level of experience and qualification.
- Understandable case study headings. A complicated case study heading will always be passed over. Use simple words to describe your project. This will help alongside the project thumbnail, to draw readers in. If you don’t use headings, make sure the project thumbnail can describe the type of project it is.
- Simple portfolio navigation. It’s worth also mentioning as recruiters we want a quick and easy way to navigate through your work. Don’t make your site so fancy that I cannot return to the homepage without doing a series of hops, skips and mental gymnastics. Think about breadcrumbs, back to top if your cases studies are long, a sticky navigation bar and a section for related case studies at the bottom of each case study page.
- Clear imagery. Please don’t overuse angled mockups to display your work. Remember the end user, the recruiter needs to clearly assess your screens and if they are too small or distorted because of the mockup, that will work against you.
- Contact information of how recruiters should reach you. This is absolutely crucial with regards to how you want people to reach you.
Now we can look at some good UX portfolio case study examples and break down what makes the actual case studies really good.
UX Portfolio Case Study structure
I developed a UX Portfolio Case Study template that has 8 critical sections based on this proven structure of what recruiters are looking for. This is meant to help outline all the sections that are going to be in your UX portfolio case studies.
- 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)
- Your role (What you were responsible for on the project)
- Project Summary/About this Project (An overview that summarizes the project, goal and results)
- The challenge (What specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points that the project solves. Were there any technical constraints or business KPIs you had to keep in mind? Who are you users and what are their specific needs)
- Solution (What method/process were used to solve specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points? How did features address the objectives?)
- Results (Project success metrics, awards, reflections, project next steps and/or lessons learnt)
This ensures that your case study has a good narrative and understandable structure for the recruiter. This also allows you to plan more effectively what design artifacts you will need in your case study. If you want to read a comprehensive breakdown of this structure and how long each section should be you can read my article below.
Let’s look at some examples of UX and UI portfolio case studies pages that consistently have this structure and have been successful at being hired at big companies. Note that some of these websites may have changed and may not even be up any more.
Example 1 — Nickki Nguyen
Example 2- Kurt Winter
Example 3 — Abbey Lee
Example 4 — Kathleen Huang
Example 5 — Aileen Shin
Example 6 — Zara Drei
Example 7 — Danny Jongerius
Example 8 — Jonathan Collie
Example 9
Example 10 — Bre Haung
One major take away from these UX and UI portfolio examples is to allow your creative unique identity and flair to define how you present the work.
Unapologetically be yourself but ensure you present the most relevant work in the easiest layout for recruiters to effectively and accurately evaluate your talent and skills.
What you can do next
Download the Design Portfolio Layout Guide, that includes 20 online case studies and example scripts for each case study section.
