One nice surprise that smashed me in the face was my portfolio got featured by Bestfolios.com, as one of the “Top Trending 2019”!
Flattered and honored, I thought I could share my learnings back to the UX community, after years of visiting UX portfolios like amusement parks and DIYed a couple!
Let’s jump right into it.
1. Be consistent
What do we love about a great portfolio?
Alongside many highlights a portfolio may shed, the consistency —the conformity in the application of every design choice always fascinates me.
It’s like watching a full pack of personalities unfolds: some are bold and persuasive, some are systematic and holistic, some are funny, warm, concise, attention to very much detail… It’s like a start of a conversation. It curious me so much now I have to connect with that person! (Think what that means for HRs, interviewees, etc!)
How’s that possible?
After I ask myself that question many times and landing on my own portfolio through practice, I got something.
To put it in simple steps: firstly, ask yourself this question:
What kind of UX designer am I? (Or what kind of UX-designer I want to be? )
Do I want to be bold and persuasive, or systematic and holistic, or both/neither? What best describes me?
Secondly, practice to use those characters as your account. Infuse it with every decisions with the portfolio. Trust me, it will show. The choice of words, story, cases, grid, type, colors, pictures, tone, vibe… They’ll all come together.
You don’t need to do all this to build a fine portfolio. In fact, these characteristics don’t come easy! Eventually, they contribute not only to building an impressive portfolio but an awesome UX career; aka decision making with consistent rationale, principles and workflows for years!
Bad idea: Build a portfolio using a vanilla template only. Fill in words and images with no story. Put segments with no soul just to check off the box.
Imagine the amount of portfolio sites interviewers, HRs browse every day. How many templates have they (have no choice but) recited? People appreciate originality. And you are unique.
Design it out!
2. Be concise
You know the importance. Now let’s bring it to your portfolio building.
Firstly, pick only the strongest, the most loved masterpieces. I recommend no more than 6 projects. In fact, during my career of being an interviewee or being interviewed, I noticed 90% of cases only 2–3 projects were visited thoroughly.
Once materials are in, cut them ruthlessly. I know it sounds super annoying because for designers in the fields we precious the efforts! Behinds the pieces there are tons of work, coffee, and possibly tears and mouth spits!
Time for a tough “minus game”, a minimalist challenge, eh? What moved the needle? Is it the user research or the iteration of designs? Pick one.
Trust me, it’s worth it.
The figure will pop once you lose the fat. The storyline will be much easier to read through once it is within 3 mins read.
Imagine yourself as a coldhearted hard-to-please short-attention-span interviewee. What content would absolutely charm you within seconds of scrolling?
Concentrate your passion, assertiveness and cool into things you put out!
Bad idea: A sea of words. Piles of meh images. Process without a storyline. Don’t leave bunkers that make a viewer hit “x” and kills your next interview opportunity!
3. Diverse your projects
Like I mentioned before, 6 is a golden number of projects. This provides room for you to strategize projects, each with something refreshing and unique.
“Wow, this person tackled interaction in space? Cool.”
“She got experiences both in start-ups and big tech companies? Nice!”
“Not only an IC but managing experience? Pleasant surprise!”
Strong logic. Amazing aesthetics. Complex workflows. Keen user insights. Spotlight one thing at a time for each project!
Bad idea: All projects look like identical twins with different outfits :<
4. Simplicity beats all
Yea, I know this bores you but, it actually came to me after I filtered out hundreds of portfolios for finding my right summer intern, and it’s easy said than done.
We want to impress. So we try to be as outsmart as we can. We race to spike out with whatever fancy tricks we got, crying for 5 secs of attention. It blinds us from the essence of design: to build a connection and solve the problem. And problem solving can be all about simplicity.
What does “being simple” mean in a UX portfolio?
It means easy navigation to ease, vivid storytelling to engage, keen observation and insights to provoke, a profound solution to appreciate. Your audience shouldn’t take an extra second, or click. (Remember the book “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug? )
Worry less about your visual design. Great portfolios are like tea — it looks simple and clear. The taste increases when you drink again and again.
Bad idea: Meaningless design flyovers with no actual value-add (as simple as using space rather than dividing line). Big stock images that load forever. Weird navigation pattern that traps viewers in a corner. Fancy animations that piss off your computer that you hear it roar.
I hope you enjoyed this piece and get something out of it. I can’t wait to see your portfolios brighten 2021. Feel free to leave comments or your portfolio, looking forward to exchanging some thoughts.
My dear design friends on Medium: wish you all a happy new year!
