Getting better UX work: Designing your UX portfolio

• Talk by Ian Fenn
• Organised by Cambridge Usability Group
• Sketchnotes of the event by Michele Ide-Smith

Takeaways

A UX portfolio should ideally include the following:

• Cover page – set the scene
• About [you] – explain UX/introduce yourself
• Client list – demonstrate experience
• Case studies – demonstrate experience
• Additional projects – demonstrate experience
• Training – illustrate learning
• Client testimonials – social proof

Putting photos of people sticking post-it notes onto a wall is really boring.

Define your approach and deliverables.

Some rules for selecting case studies to include in your UX portfolio:

• No mediocre work
• Eliminate projects that are too similar
• Choose projects that represent your best work and what you want to do – so don’t include simple documentation projects if you don’t want to be a wireframe monkey

Use S.T.A.R. when writing your case studies:

• Situation – the situation in which you found yourself
• Task – what did you have to achieve>
• Action – what you did and why you did it
• Result – the outcome of your actions

Approach your portfolio as you would a design project.