Creating your first portfolio
What to do, if you haven't a clue
I have trained and mentored quite a few designers who started out in other roles or had previous careers. At some point in their development they start thinking about creating their first portfolio.
Or I suggest it and they dismiss it as an alien concept that doesn’t apply to them.
Creating your first portfolio can be overwhelming but it’s actually a brilliant opportunity to reflect on how far you’ve come, what you’ve achieved and start to highlight your impact as a designer - to yourself and to the world!
Also, if you find yourself looking for any kind of design (or even research) role these days, hiring managers and recruiters pretty much expect to see a portfolio alongside your CV.
Get on with it
The best time to work on your portfolio is NOT when you suddenly need to look for a new job.
My advice to newbie designers is to get on with creating a portfolio immediately, and keep adding content to it (even if it’s draft or unpublished case studies) so that you have everything ready to go if you suddenly find yourself wanting to get out of your current role.
Especially if you’re in a perm role, it can be tempting to let the months and years roll by without working on it but trust me, you only need to be made suddenly redundant once to discover the stress of not being ready with your showcase.
Keep it simple
Please please please keep this in mind no matter what part of your portfolio content or design you are considering - keep it simple.
Keep your bio simple
Keep your case studies simple
Keep your design simple
If you overcomplicate any of the above you will never be ‘done’ and you will drive yourself potty with self doubt in the interim.
And done is better than perfect.
Make a basic website
It doesn’t matter if you’re a UX Researcher, Service Designer or other non-UI flavoured individual, you can make a perfectly presentable portfolio that works on any device using services like Squarespace or UXfolio. They also come with password protection which you might need for your case studies.
Most of these platforms come with a cost, especially if you want to have your own URL, but this is usually worth the money in terms of looking a bit more professional.
Core content & IA
You don’t need tons of content. Assuming you are creating a website portfolio rather than a pdf, I recommend having
Your name
A statement that describes the type of designer you are
up to 3 case studies
Links (e.g. LinkedIn, any articles you might have written)
Contact information
That’s it.
Some people like to offer a download of their CV, but my recommendation would be to use LinkedIn as your most generic CV, and tailor a separate one to every opportunity you apply to directly.
Three case studies
Your portfolio only needs to show your best 3 projects. I highly recommend writing case studies for everything you ever do, but just showing the top 3 on your live portfolio site.
This is because:
Recruiters and hiring managers have zero attention span
You want to choose the work that reflects what you want to do NEXT, not an entire history of all your random work
Your top three case studies now won’t be your top three for long. They’ll evolve as you do. Soon you’ll have a lovely archive showing your career progression over time
You never know when you’ll want to go back and revisit old work so don’t bin it, archive it.
Here are some other articles I’ve written on this topic;
The real benefit of your UX portfolio
Tips for UX Research portfolios
What career level does your portfolio reflect?
When you can’t talk about your best design work
Your UX library is not just books
If you want access to all of them, you might want to
Pick three different areas
If it’s possible, pick three case studies that cover different themes. For example, one where you redesigned something and made it perform better with a. nice stat, one where you identified some amazing customer need, one where you influenced strategy or stakeholders.
Try to avoid three near-identical types of case studies if possible.
Show a range of skills
Show off as many skills as you can.
You might not have worked on a huge variety of projects yet, but aim to demonstrate different aspects of your skills. For example:
Research: Show how you gathered user insights (e.g., interviews, surveys, usability testing).
Ideation: Highlight sketches, wireframes, or low-fidelity prototypes.
Design: Include high-fidelity designs or interactive prototypes.
Iteration: Share testing results or feedback and how they informed your final design.
Side projects count!
If you don’t have three case studies of actual paid work for your current employer, use side projects to make up the number. They totally count and show your dedication to the craft and desire to keep learning.
Plus you can make them whatever you want, fill whatever gap you think you currently have in your skillset.
Obviously, taking on a new side project when you’re in the middle of an urgent job search is not a good idea, but if you’re working on your portfolio proactively, then identifying gaps and filling them any way you can is.
Tell a simple story
You don’t need to tell the full detail of everything you did on a project. You don’t need to cram it full of deliverables and a run down of every meeting.
The purpose of a case study is just to get you an interview. It’s the top level, edited highlights of your genius. i.e. if the user wants to know more, they have to book a meeting with you.
Use the following outline:
Name of project - make this about the outcome, e.g. “changed a button that drove 1000% increase in sales”
The problem - what was the problem they asked you to solve
Your role - what did you do on it. And be honest. If you were a midweight supporting a senior, say it. Don’t make it harder for the hiring manager to work out who you are.
The process - not the whole end-to-end detail, just the main tasks you went through. This is where you demonstrate user-centricity. Extra points if you can highlight a research finding that changed your project’s direction or outcome.
The outcome - this loops back to the headline of the project. What did you achieve? Ideally this is a metric (e.g. x% increase in sign ups, reduction in unsubs) but it could also be something softer such as increasing the research budget, getting a difficult stakeholder on side.
Highlight skills inside case studies
As well as the work, hiring managers want to know how you were effective. So consider mentioning
When and where you collaborated with others
How you led stakeholders
How you pivoted in the middle of a project if needed
How you overcame any challenges or difficulties
Show how you solved problems
Show curiosity
Show resilience
Again, these can be simple and appropriate to the level you are. You can lead stakeholders by proactively arranging meetings or creating summaries for them to share at update meetings. You don’t need to be directing the entire department to lead a stakeholder.
Password protect it
If you work is of any value to your organisation, then much of it probably cannot be shared. Especially if you’re a researcher. More on that scenario here.
As above, most portfolio platforms have password-protection functionality. I suggest you use it even if just for the case studies themselves.
I also suggest you submit a job application with an incorrect password. Nothing says “you’ve not been ignored” than a company reaching out for a correct password.
Get someone to review it
Once you have something together, even something half-done or cripplingly-full-of-self-doubt-done, share it with someone to get feedback. Preferably someone who works in design.
If you are subscribed to this newsletter, then reach out to me directly and I’ll review your CV and portfolio for you for free.
Oh look, there’s a handy button.