topic: Portfolio of work - digital product design guidelines
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employability-sprint
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UX/UI DESIGN PORTFOLIOS
Creating a portfolio of your work, no matter what field you are in, is often a useful way to communicate your practical skills and capabilities. This is the real substance and what employers really care about.
It can exist as a stand-alone document like a PDF, a link to a personal website, or you can leverage an existing platform within your field, such as Behance.
We advise that your portfolio consists of a few practical projects that you’ve completed. You will use your portfolio to present these projects in a way that is clear. Try to structure the projects in a similar way to ensure consistency.
Each project has its own unique skill set or learning outcomes – keep that in mind and use that to your advantage. It is also helpful to show iterations of a solution (e.g. design or alternative technologies you tried) and how you refined your thinking.
Develop Your Design Portfolio
Here are some tricks to help you develop your portfolio:
- Keep the design simple so that it doesn’t detract from your actual work
- If you’re presenting a group brief, remember to identify the role you played and the work you did in the brief
- Keep it succinct
- Focus on your strengths
- Include mockups of the final outcomes, reflecting the real-world context
- Collaborate with others in your group (or others trying to break into the same industry) and exchange value – some of you design better than you write, and vice versa
- A creative portfolio is meant to show how you solve problems, not perfect projects, and show the journey, the scamps, the pivots, the learnings, and the final product
The following structure should help you lay out your portfolio:
1. Cover page
2. Contents page
3. Introduction to you, your skills, and your strengths
Project 1: Name
- Brief (explain the context and what was asked of you from the brief, as well as your role in the brief – this will help give your viewer more context)
- Approach – the process you followed (briefly explain)
- Research or Analysis (highlight the methods used, example requirements, elicitation interviews, desktop research, persona development, stakeholder interviews, market research, etc.)
- Process Deliverables (e.g. BRD, stakeholder analysis, user flows, wireframes, project timeline, etc.)
- Design Research or Feasibility Study (if applicable)
- Solution or Process Results (e.g. define scope, budget and timelines , prototype, etc.)
- Conclusion (learnings and impact to the project)
Project 2: Name
Project 3: Name (if you have one)
Project 4: Name (if you have one)
4. Conclusion
5. Thank yous + questions + contact details
Presenting Your Design Portfolio
When presenting your portfolio, you need to keep in mind that you would most likely have to present it in TWO forms. What do we mean by this? Firstly, you’d submit it remotely. And secondly, in person when you get the interview. Many establishments have now resorted to solely doing the interview process remotely, however, it’s important to be prepared for both.
Your portfolio is what will get you the interview, so it’s very important to ensure the content you present is some of the best work you have done. A UX portfolio presentation is about showing your future employer and team that you can articulate your ideas, process, and concepts in a clear and concise style.
Some of the important aspects that a future employer/recruiter may want to know more about are:
- Role: What were your responsibilities in the project?
- Team: How did you work in the team and who did you work with? (stakeholders, developers, designers, product managers, etc.)
- Design insight: What ideas helped develop your design?
- Design decisions: How you translated business or user needs into your design?
- Rationale: Explain why you chose to do things in that particular way during the project.
Prepare Your Presentation!
Resources
Case study template
When designing your presentation, it’s important to consider the format (ask the manager if you are allowed to bring in your device to showcase your digital portfolio), to put together case studies for your projects, and to consider the following points:
- Which parts are necessary for comprehension?
- Which part is the most powerful?
- Which part can help you get the job at hand?
You may not have much time to go into detail when preparing your work, so the points above will help to fine-tune the content for your presentation.
Rehearsing your presentation is very important. Ensure you do not read from the slides and always come prepared with a bit of in-depth information for certain aspects of the design phase.
Structure Your Presentation
Resources
UX portfolio example
Here are some tips on how to structure your presentation:
- Introduce yourself: Give them your name, your role, and what you specialise in
- Talk through a project you were passionate about or enjoyed working on (touch on the skills you used for this project, what went well, and how you overcame challenges.)
- Talk about the team setup, and your role and activity in a project
- Explain the challenges you faced
- Talk through your process (e.g. design thinking process)
- Mention UX methods and user insights (e.g. bucketing)
- Show the solution you developed
- What was the major design decision you made? (This is moment you showcase the unexpected or impactful design decision that had an impact on the users)
- Showcase your results (prototype)
- Lastly, explain what you learnt from this project, show the findings of what you took away from this experience, and touch on how your thoughts may have evolved during the process
Some considerations for presenting
- Time (one of the most important aspects!) – manage your time well when presenting.
- Easy-to-understand – not everyone will understand your professional lingo, so it’s important to speak in an understandable manner so everyone can follow along.
- Be excited about what you’re presenting – this is also very important. It allows the viewer to see your passion.
- Come prepared – DON’T READ FROM THE SLIDES! Always remember that the viewer is already reading the content on the screen and would lose interest if they are hearing it too.
- Lastly, be open to questions and ask for feedback.
Online Presentation Prep
When presenting your portfolio via Google meet or any other online platform, these are some of the things to keep in mind:
- Ensure your surroundings are neat and tidy. If your room is messy, they may think the same of you!
- Close all tabs, bookmarks, and windows.
- Double check your network connection and device settings.
- Maintain camera contact, keep the engagement high. Do not be silent when asked a question or during a conversation.
More Resources + Examples