How I un-bs’ed my portfolio so employers stay on it longer (with zero UX experience).
Disclaimer: I wrote this with the intention to help especially those new to the UX field (career pivoters like myself). These are tips and tricks that have been shared with me. I have been in constant trial-and-error.
First things first:
You are an interesting person.
There is no one like you.
But it’s your responsibility to show that.
Your landing page is most important.
It’s your first impression.
A digital handshake.
You cannot start with “Hi, my name is (blank)” anymore.
If you still have this, take it out.
“But Sensei, that’s how you interact with people irl. You shake their hand and you introduce yourself.”
True, but this is the digital world. We’ve only got 8 seconds (at most).
Let’s make it count.
If you have relevant achievements and accomplishments (not the ones you smack a random number on), the ones you can really talk about loud and proud, I would start with that first.
My portfolio originally started with this. I wrote achievements that didn’t pertain to UX.
So who cares? Who would?
It was all mumbo-jumbo. You could smell the fake off them (and employers did too).
No UX related accomplishments?
(I’m just starting out so why would I? Duh.)
No problem.
Do something different from what everyone else is doing.
And do it front and center, once they land on your page.
Some ideas?
- Video introduction. 30 second video. Talk about ANYTHING. Make yourself interesting.
- Literally just talk to them. (This is what my landing page is doing. Currently testing it out!). Give them one reason to stay on your page.
- If you have a case study or project that got you some really cool results, go ahead and start with that. (if it’s with a big name company, the better). No need to introduce. They’re not here for you, they’re here for what you can do.
- Play a video. Maybe it’s not your face but a time lapse of you working on a case study, for example. Or a montage of you doing the 100 days design challenge.
- A picture of you WORKING. No more of the smiling faces. Grab a clicker, stand in front of a white board, start presenting and have a friend snap a picture of you.
- Are your skills more UX or more UI focused? You could show your expertise with how you set up your landing page (is it more “research” heavy or design heavy?). The caveat is it’s not all about pretty designs so if you go the UI route, make sure you can show you’re pretty skilled in UX too.
Take risks.
I know there is still a convention that we UX designers need to follow with our portfolios but I have tried that.
I conformed.
And it got me nowhere.
So (out of frustration), I’m trying something bold and new.
Why not?
I know I am different (and so are you).
How can you show that?
How can you get them to stay?
