Quick Tips for Building a Strong UX Portfolio was originally published on Springboard.
Before you can apply to jobs, you need to ensure that your UX design resume and portfolio are as strong as possible. These act as an introduction to your experience and skills for recruiters and hiring managers who are assessing your application to see if you are a good fit for the role.
Keep reading for some important tips and guidance on strengthening your UX portfolio.
Check out this post for tips on how to improve your UI/UX resume!
Why Is Your UX Portfolio Important?
A successful UX portfolio works together with your resume to give recruiters and hiring managers the ability to actually see the work you are describing. UX portfolios should not only be intuitive and interactive but also provide as much background and reasoning behind your work as possible.
Your portfolio also acts as a mini-project, which means it is an opportunity to show recruiters and hiring managers that you understand how to design and create aesthetically pleasing websites that are easy-to-use and understand. This is especially beneficial for recent university and bootcamp grads who might have less experience to showcase.
Quick Tips for Optimizing Your Portfolio Homepage
Your homepage should be clean, professional, and, above all, easy to understand. Recruiters and hiring managers will spend very little time reviewing your resume and portfolio, so you need to make sure that it is as easy for them to learn about you and get to the essence of your work as quickly as possible.
Here are some quick tips for building an effective, optimized portfolio homepage:
- Spend time on your homepage by explaining who you are, the work you like to do, the type of roles or companies you are interested in, and your hobbies
- Show your personality, but keep it neat. Some people choose to have all of their work featured below the fold on their homepage—typically in boxes that give some detail and then link out to individual pages
- If you prefer a menu or a navigation bar, just make sure the links are easy to find and the menu is responsive for mobile use
- Link out to websites, apps, and other products that you have created. This gives the hiring team a chance to see your work in action
A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Portfolio Pages
Portfolio pages are the best opportunity for you to tell the story of the work you did. These pages are also a great way to show your wireframes, prototypes, and designs. Take your time outlining your design process and explaining the reasoning behind each decision because this is the best way for recruiters and hiring managers to understand how you work and to see if you will fit in with their design team.
- Think of each portfolio page as a case study. Start with an overview of the project, your role, the tools utilized, and the timeframe of the project.
- Next, you should explain the design question and any research you did, including competitive analysis and user interviews. If you can format your research into charts and graphs, it is even more impactful.
- Continue to move through your design process by highlighting the wireframes, prototypes, scenarios, user tests, iterations, and final design.
- Provide as many examples and visuals as possible. The hiring team is likely scanning your portfolio, so you want to make sure that they can see your work.
- End with a written conclusion that includes reflection on the project, including what you did well, what you could have improved, and what you would have done if you had more time.
With these tips and guidance, you should be well on your way to building a strong UX portfolio that catches the attention of recruiters and hiring managers and ensures you move forward with the application processes.
Pathrise is an online program that works with students and professionals to land their dream job. Mentors work 1-on-1 with fellows on each component of their job search, including resume, LinkedIn, and portfolio optimization, cold emailing, behavioral and technical interviewing, and negotiation.
The post Quick Tips for Building a Strong UX Portfolio appeared first on Springboard Blog.
