Should you use Figma for your UX portfolio?
This week’s UX roundup also includes UX Database, Influence, and How to Become a UX Designer in 2022.
Want updates? Sign up for the UX newsletter here.
[ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS]
Designers, please don’t use Figma to showcase your portfolio
This article had me click-baited because I was like, I love Figma — a portfolio there would be so cool!
But then, I understood why.
If the hiring manager or recruiter is unfamiliar with Figma, they will be greeted by screens of work without clear reading order instructions. If that is the case, then they will not get the full picture of your products.
My UX mentor told me that a portfolio in itself must demonstrate good UX. (Hack: think of your portfolio like fine dining.) That struck me because I didn’t even consider that an easy-to-navigate portfolio would show my abilities to prove good UX.
This article made me realize that other “alternative” platforms like Medium or Notion would not be good places for my portfolio. It’s even safer to stick with a Minimum Viable UX Portfolio — your work hosted on Google Slides, for example.
Design principle: be clear over clever. If you’re hosting your portfolio just to be different but the UX is lacking, it’s not going to work well. That doesn’t mean you can branch out — but be prepared to really make your alternative portfolio shine. All things considered, a traditional website and or PDF of your work are probably the safest options for your portfolio.
[LEARN UX]
User Experience Database
This is a huge list of 750 resources, organized in 16 subjects, 34 topics, and 210 subtopics to help you learn product design on your own.
[ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS]
Switching Careers to UX Design
Taylor Palmer interviewed 20 designers about switching careers to UX Design. From the conversations, he gathered 5 themes:
- Switch within your current company
- Learn how to pitch your past experience
- Start a side project
- Get a university degree
- Attend a bootcamp
Learning how to pitch my previous experience to land my current role was huge. I worked in e-learning and higher ed and so to spin my experience into UX, I talked about problem-solving, interaction design of the courses, web development, accessibility, and user interviews I did with students. Sure what I did wasn’t professionally labeled as a UX role but it certainly had many hard and soft skills that I needed to be a successful designer.
[SOMETHING FUN]
User’s hand size
[UX QUOTE]
“A style guide is an artifact of the design process. A design system is a living, funded product with a roadmap & backlog, serving an ecosystem.”
- Nathan Curtis, co-founder of EightShapes
[WATCH THIS]
Become a UI/UX designer in 2022 — A step by step guide
This video is a 6-step roadmap to becoming a UX designer:
- Know what you’re getting into
- Understand the design process
- Develop your skills
- Craft your case study
- Put yourself out there
- Apply for jobs
You’ll have to watch the video for yourself to spot the other nuggets Rachel throws out!
[BOOK RECO]
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Here’s a hefty book worth reading. At around 550 pages, I’d recommend skimming if it gets too daunting to read through every word. There’s a lot of rich knowledge in this book to take from — principles that you can use to influence user behavior, all with provided examples and information drawn from research. This is the book to read if you’re looking to influence and guide users to take actions in their own best interests.
[DESIGN TOOL]
Whimsical
Whimsical is a visual workspace that allows you to make quick wireframes, flowcharts, and other collaborative files.
📚 UX Learning Recommendations ✨
UXBeginner.com is an educational partner with outstanding design bootcamps and resources. You can support our free site and newsletter by using our referral links, which often get you a discount off of UX courses and bootcamps. Check them out:
🧪 Design Lab
Design Lab’s UX bootcamps are the most popular — and well-rated — amongst UX Beginners. Their flagship program is polished and strikes a good balance between practice and modern design theory.
✊🏾 Interaction Design Foundation
IDF has in-depth courses on various UX skills. Get 3 months off your first year of design membership or $200 off a UX BootCamp!
💸 Rakuten for Cash Back on Courses
Did you know you can get free cashback when shopping for UX design courses? Use our Rakuten referral link to get $40 for free after first purchase, and even more when you activate Rakuten when shopping at places like Udemy and Skillshare. Read our guide on getting course cashback here
Other reviews from UXB:
