How to Build a Standout UX Design Portfolio in 2024
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers advice on structuring a compelling design portfolio, highlighting the need to go beyond showcasing work and focusing on the thought process and results. The speaker shares personal experiences, including attracting attention from companies like Meta, and emphasizes the importance of continuous portfolio development even when employed. Tips on case study creation, design principles in Figma, and the value of user testing with friends are provided to help designers create a strong portfolio that can lead to job opportunities.
Takeaways
- 📈 **Portfolio Structure**: The speaker emphasizes the importance of structuring a portfolio to showcase more than just designs; it should demonstrate the thought process and results.
- 💼 **UI/UX Gap**: There's a noted gap between UI and UX, and the speaker aims to bridge this by teaching how to create a comprehensive portfolio.
- 📩 **Industry Recognition**: The speaker has received outreach from companies like Meta due to their portfolio, highlighting its effectiveness.
- 🔍 **Content is Key**: The portfolio should contain more than just visuals; it should articulate the thought process and outcomes of projects.
- 📊 **Results Matter**: Including results in the portfolio is crucial as it backs up the work with tangible data.
- 🚀 **Growth Opportunities**: The speaker's intention is to help designers grow by learning how to structure their portfolios effectively.
- 💡 **Continuous Improvement**: Even when employed, it's essential to keep updating and building one's portfolio to be ready for future opportunities.
- 🛠️ **Design Tools**: Tools like Figma and plugins like Mockup Studio are recommended for designing and exporting portfolio case studies.
- 👥 **User Testing**: Engaging friends or potential users in testing designs can simulate real-life user feedback for case studies.
- 📝 **Documentation**: Every element of the portfolio, including case studies, should be well-documented and designed, not just screenshots.
- 💪 **Honesty is Best**: The speaker advises against fabricating project experiences, as it can lead to failure in the probation period when the truth is revealed.
Q & A
What is a common misconception about design portfolios?
-A common misconception is that portfolios are just for showcasing beautiful designs or completed work. However, portfolios should focus on showcasing the designer's thought process, challenges faced, and how solutions were developed.
Why is it important to keep your portfolio updated even while employed?
-Keeping your portfolio updated while employed is crucial because job uncertainty can arise at any time, and having a strong, up-to-date portfolio allows for a smooth transition back into the job market.
What key content should be highlighted in a design case study?
-A design case study should highlight the thought process, unique solutions, how the designer's ideas influenced the design, user feedback, and the overall impact of the project.
How does the speaker suggest approaching case studies for those who haven’t worked on real-life projects?
-For designers without real-life project experience, the speaker suggests creating mock projects, using templates, and involving friends as test users. They should treat these projects as real by addressing problems and providing solutions.
Why is breaking down design files in Figma important when building a portfolio?
-Breaking down design files in Figma is important to prevent the software from slowing down, especially when working on large files. It also helps in organizing and presenting work in a more readable and structured way.
What is the importance of including usability tests in a portfolio?
-Including usability tests in a portfolio is important as it demonstrates the designer's ability to gather real feedback, identify problems in the design, and iterate based on user input. This shows an understanding of user-centered design.
How does the speaker recommend handling design projects that can't be publicly shared due to client restrictions?
-The speaker recommends creating new projects using templates or mock projects when real projects can't be shared publicly. Designers can simulate the design process and use friends for testing to mimic a real project environment.
Why is being honest about project experience important during job applications?
-Being honest about project experience is crucial because any dishonesty can be exposed once hired. If a designer lacks real project experience, they might struggle during probation periods, leading to job loss.
What advice does the speaker give for presenting case studies effectively?
-The speaker advises keeping case studies concise, highlighting key points without overwhelming hiring managers who are reviewing multiple portfolios. It’s important to clearly articulate the thought process and design rationale.
What tools does the speaker recommend for building a portfolio?
-The speaker recommends using Figma for designing portfolios and creating case studies. They also suggest using the 'Mockup Studio' plugin for displaying design mockups in a polished and professional way.
Outlines
📝 Structuring Your UX/UI Portfolio Effectively
The speaker emphasizes the importance of properly structuring a portfolio for UX/UI designers, highlighting a gap in understanding between UX and UI. Many people think portfolios are just a showcase of work, but the speaker stresses that there's more to it. It's important to demonstrate what hiring managers are looking for. By sharing personal experience and the impact of their own portfolio, the speaker illustrates how a well-structured portfolio can attract attention from major companies like Meta. The speaker offers to guide viewers on how to create portfolios that not only display design skills but also help them stand out in the job market, even providing proof of success through personal experiences.
📂 Common Portfolio Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The speaker discusses common mistakes designers make in portfolio creation, like simply uploading design work without context or strategy. Instead, the speaker advises creating compelling case studies that highlight the designer's thought process, problem-solving abilities, and the reasons behind design decisions. By using tools such as the 'Mockup Studio' plugin for Figma, the speaker explains how to structure a case study with proper formatting and dimensions for clarity. Details like text size, spacing, and export tips are shared to ensure portfolios are accessible and visually appealing, especially when using tools like Figma to build them.
🔄 Building Case Studies Without Real-life Projects
The speaker provides a solution for designers who haven't worked on real-life projects by suggesting that they test their designs with friends and use their feedback to create a 'before and after' case study. This method mimics real-world usability testing, allowing designers to showcase their ability to identify and solve design problems even without professional experience. The speaker encourages designers to create up to six 'before and after' usability studies using their own ideas and templates, and to be honest about these being self-initiated projects, as this demonstrates initiative and creativity to potential employers.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Portfolio Structure
💡Case Study
💡User Experience (UX)
💡Mockup Studio
💡Project Brief
💡Usability Testing
💡Hiring Managers
💡Figma
💡Self-Initiated Projects
💡LinkedIn Presence
Highlights
Understanding the gap between UI and UX in portfolio structuring.
A portfolio is more than showcasing work or beautiful designs.
Hiring managers are looking for more than just work samples in portfolios.
Showcase thought processes and design decisions in case studies.
Success in portfolio structure can lead to messages from top companies like Meta.
Always keep your portfolio updated, even when employed.
Use a template to guide portfolio structure for easier design management.
Highlight key points in your case studies; hiring managers often don't have time to read long portfolios.
Four case studies are recommended for an optimal portfolio.
Mockup Studio is a helpful tool for creating portfolio presentations.
Ensure text readability in case studies by setting appropriate width and font sizes.
If you lack real-life projects, create hypothetical ones and test them with friends.
Focus on before-and-after usability studies to demonstrate design improvements.
Be honest about non-live projects in interviews; highlight the testing process and lessons learned.
Avoid cutting corners in your portfolio; authenticity ensures long-term success in design roles.
Transcripts
so I'm going to be showing you how you
can actually structure your portfolio
because I noticed that there is this gap
between UI and ux and a lot of people
don't actually know how to structure
their portfolio and before now you might
be thinking that portfolio is just when
you showcase
your um work the work you've done or
probably uh all the beautiful designs
you've made and that actually works as
something that you can have in your
portfolio but far from that that is not
what should be on your portfolio right I
will show you what these guys are
actually looking out for because have in
the past I've gotten a lot of messages
based on the kind of portfolio that I
have and I'm going to show you some of
the messages that I've done I've gotten
over the years about from different
companies Pro even meta reached out to
me at some point uh I can't even tell
maybe because of the way I structured my
portfolio because of the contents that
I've been sharing on LinkedIn but at
some point they reached out to me the
hiring team actually reached out to me
on LinkedIn and were like hey um are you
open to work I think that was when I was
with my former company right so I'm
going to show you how you can actually
do this and I'm going to show you this
with results because some of the things
things that I've done I have results to
back it out so it's not based on it's
not it's not a theory or something that
I just read up somewhere just going to
make a read up and say okay I'm just
doing this because I want to grow my
channel now it's far from that I'm just
showing you this because I want you to
grow as a designer I want to see so many
good designers out there um I want to
see people make beautiful designs that's
the why I'm actually taking my time to
make this video because I've just been
trying to um I've tried so much to find
time to make this kind of video to show
um young designers how to structure
their portfolio probably maybe not just
for your designers but if you're also
working with a company this is also this
video will be very helpful for you
because because of uncertainty anything
can happen at any time so if you fall by
back to the job market you won't
struggle to get yourself into the next
company because most people when they
get a job they will forget to you know
build or they will just throw that aside
hey I'm no longer going to invest on
building portfolios or updating my
portfolios no that's one mistakes people
make the best time to actually start
building your portfolios when you
already in a job right because most time
times yeah we know that some clients
will not allow you to put their product
out there but you can actually work on
something and you know look at a
template that I'm going to show you then
use it as a guide to make yours and I'm
going to show you how you can do this
even even if you've not worked on a real
life project the portfolio itself
putting it up together takes me up to a
month but they hope process takes like
some took like almost two years because
there's a project that I actually worked
on for two years so I have to you
imagine when you compile your two years
journey into just one single case study
and that's like it's going to be long
but you just have to try as much as
possible to make it short because most
of the uh case studies that I have now
so many hiring managers might not have
the time to read because they already
going through tons of portfolios and all
that but you should actually find a way
to hit the points I went into details
almost all the things that I did on that
project I F I just found a way to
actually highlight that in my case study
so that is just what I did I actually
have four case studies on my portfolio
my behance portfolio so I'm going to
show you guys how I did this in figma
than how I actually um uploaded it on
beh hands I would advise you to have
your portfolio on be hands if you want
to do yours uh host yours as um a
private website you can do that but that
doesn't guarantee that you get a job or
that doesn't guarantee that you know
what you're doing but what actually
guarantees that you know what you're
doing is how you structure this
portfolio because a lot of people do the
portfolio do their portfolio um once
they finish the design they would just
put all the homework UPS there or and
that's just it no far from it it's just
too far from it that's just like you've
not done anything to be honest I'm not
just trying to discredit you but maybe
after this video you should go back and
redo some of those things if you really
want to start getting DMs like I do or
start getting calls because um some of
these messages like this
is something that I can actually
encourage you to um come up with a
beautiful case study to articulate how
you actually
achieved some of the things you did in
your design what was the thought process
what did you do different what how did
your thought influence some of the
designs you made this is what I did I
used
um this plugin mockup this is the plugin
that I used um
mockup
here look at it here mockup studio
moop studio this is the plugin you need
to download to get some of these things
so once you just download it you select
the frame
and place it on your file so here are
the case this this is what it looks
like and when you're designing please
make sure that the WID is up to 2,000 so
that it will be very readable make sure
that the weight is 2 th up to 2,000 my
is mine is
2,571 you can actually use this then if
you're using
2571 make sure your text is see this AIG
test is up to 28 with look at it here is
28 and the spacing is 43 so you can
actually use this to write your case
studies for the body text for the uh for
the heading I used 48 and for the soap I
used uh case study header 32 so this is
32 and 45 pixels um for the spacing so
here you will see the everything you saw
there was the so what you do is after
you finish designing this thing you just
select it and Export export one after
the other export them one by one select
this one export One By One The reason
why you have to break this you don't
have to make it so long so that it will
not when you make it that long figma
will start to drag if you're using maybe
16 gig ram or 8 gig ram it will start
dragging so just make sure you have it
cut broke like this I'm using M2 Chip
I'm using Mac Book
2022 and uh it doesn't drag to be honest
so it runs smoothly and uh here is the
personas that I that I did you see
everything is on auly out so I had to do
this and uh this is the this is how I
did
the
um the competitors research uh
analysis so this is what it looks like
so everything is just done in figma you
just do everything in figma the case
study and all those stuff nothing here
is screenshots that's why I had to take
my time to write it and design it one
after the other this case study even the
case study is not a screenshot is a raw
figma file that I designed it's not a
screenshot so here you would see the
Prototype this is just the screenshot
because I had
to do the Prototype snap this just
screenshot how this thing looks so here
you see this ability test and everything
that I did here is on figma this one I
did on figma too all the stuffs I did on
figma this also
so here is your before and after so you
will see how I actually designed this
and now if you want to do this without
any live projects the only thing you
have to do is to use my template another
way to go about it is use my template
and involve the help of
Charity what you're going to do to
actually uh
if you don't if you've not done this
project you can actually Design This and
test run it with maybe friends and let
them highlight some of the problems that
could be wrong with this design then you
go back and solve it the ones that you
used for the problem could be your
before and this one could be your after
right you are still testing it with the
end users now you just have to highlight
the problems they pointed out and the
solution you provided why did you design
this this way so it will actually give
you an idea of what real life user
testing looks like right so the same
thing with this ones just some part of
the app I would um advise you to make it
up to five or six right before and after
usability to study then use your friends
maybe 10 or five use them to actually um
use them to actually get in firstand
information about this let them be the
potential customers about this all the
steps that I've actually added here use
your friends to test it if you don't
have any any pro life project you're
working on just get few friends and let
them talk to you about some of the uh
some of the things they feel about is if
it's if it's going to be a if it's going
to be a fintech app or if it's going to
be any kind of app any form of app you
want to build just use few friends to
test it tell them make sure you inform
them so all these things you're going to
text on it with your friends that is the
way to that is another way you can
actually use build a case study like
this you shouldn't wait till you work
might don't tell yourself oh I've not
worked on any particular project I don't
have any project that I've worked on how
do I come up with a case study come up
with a business idea come up with a you
should provide yourself the brief right
is allowed because if you talking to the
uh the hand room manager you tell them
that oh this is not a live project this
is something that actually an idea that
I came up with just because I I wanted
to have something on my portfolio and I
had to actually test R this with my
friends right so this is something that
you need to do and tell them the outcome
what you did what you learned from the
whole stuff and how you conducted this
whole stuff don't lie about it that's
the worst thing you can actually do to
yourself because when you get into the
company you will be face you will face
the real stuff they will know that oh
you don't actually have a firsthand
experience about these stuff you might
not pass your three months probation you
might not make it to your six month
probation they just I've got I've
mentored some people that actually did
try to play fast one and at the end of
the day they couldn't even make it to
the first two months now you know the
secret of how you can actually go about
this even if
you even when you don't you've not done
the real project I'm going to also be
disclosing so many other secrets that
would help you as a new be or as a young
designer that is coming on board how you
can actually leverage on so many tools
or even chat JB how you can leverage on
it to land your first roow prepare
yourself very well so you don't settle
for less because a lot of guys out there
looking for who to use use don't fall
free because you're just starting people
would want to use you and be like oh you
just have to do this and at the end of
the day they will give you stend or tips
I've gotten a lot of designers that
comes to my DM to complain about this I
always tell them you just have to be
fairm if you know if you truly know this
because the problem is that a lot of
young designers like cutting Corners
don't cut corners please don't cut
Corners make sure to do the right thing
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