UX Designer Portfolio Checklist
The main thing to keep in mind when creating your case study is that you want to tell a cohesive story.
One way to tell a story is to follow the five steps of the design process.
Your role in the project
The goal of the project
Your target audience
Key challenges or constraints
Research conducted
Initial concepts or design strategy
Your sketches or wireframes
Results of any user testing
Your final polished design
Conclusion
Phase 1: Research
When empathizing with users for a new design project, you should use:
• User interviews (understand & define the pain points) 2-3 participants is enough
Recruit interview participants who represent your target users
Plan your interviews and write effective interview questions
Conduct interviews to get usable information and build rapport with participants
• Empathy maps
• User personas
• User stories:
For each user persona you create, write a brief sentence that establishes the following details about who, what, and why:
Who: The type of user that the persona represents, including their key characteristics
What: The action the persona hopes will happen, including any relevant pain points they want to avoid
Why: The benefit the persona wants to achieve from that action, which can be tangible or intangible
You can organize these who, what, and why details into one sentence with the following template.
As a [type of user], I want to [action] so that [benefit].
• User journey maps
TIP:
Before you start to empathize with users, remember to consult any business requirements associated with your project, including any goals or parameters you received from your client or other business stakeholders. Then, conduct your empathy work in ways that align with those goals and parameters.
Phase 2: Strategy
How to solve the pain points? What can you design? What goals & hypothesis?
Talking about the problem & how to solve it
Mission statement
Write the goals
Phase 3: Design
Wireframes, sketch, minibrainstorm, crafting user journeys, task model, flows, features to highlight, consider prototype.
Ideation: sketches & wireframes
Final wireframe
Key journeys
Primary journeys to complete some of the tasks
Presentation w mock ups (high fidelity)
Phase 4: Crafting the case study
How will you tell the story? Where will you host your case study
Create a great story
A section for learnings & takeaways
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The “must-haves” for your portfolio are listed below. Some of them are more concrete than others, but they’re all important for creating a holistic website to demonstrate your abilities as a UX designer.
A splash/welcome page
Your brand identity
A tone of voice consistent with your personal brand
At least three case studies, including
Your role on the team
The product’s goal
The research
The users
Design architecture
Wireframes (or sketches)
User testing details
Mockups
Prototypes
Final polished designs
Results and Outcomes
Lots of images, including a mobile and web-based versions of the product, if applicable
No more text than necessary
A dynamic layout
Links to extra information like research or reports, if applicable
Clear navigation
Link to your resume
Your contact information
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FINAL PORTFOLIO REVIEW
Step 1: Review your portfolio overall
As you review your portfolio, ask yourself these questions:
• Does your portfolio include at least three case studies?
• Does your portfolio have a cohesive personal brand identity with a consistent tone of voice?
• Does your portfolio have a splash/welcome page?
Step 2: Review your case studies
After reviewing your portfolio overall, focus on your case studies. Ask yourself whether your case studies describe or include the following:
• Designer’s role in the project
• Project goal
• Target users
• Key challenges or constraints
• Research study details
• Initial design concepts
• Sketches or wireframes
• User testing results
• Mockups or high-fidelity prototypes of final, polished designs
• Conclusion with key takeaways from the design process and possible next steps
Step 3: Review navigation, layout, and links
Finally, make sure your portfolio will provide an enjoyable user experience and offer users access to additional information about you. Ask yourself the following questions:
• Does your portfolio have a clear navigation?
• Does your portfolio have a dynamic layout?
• Does your portfolio link to the designer's resume?
• Does your portfolio link to the designer’s contact info?
Step 4: Copy edit your portfolio
Before sharing your portfolio, proofread it thoroughly for grammatical and typographical errors. A single error can make an entire portfolio seem unpolished and unprofessional, so try to be as thorough as possible.
When proofreading your own work, the most thorough approach is to read every item of text aloud. That’s one way you can be sure you’ve checked every sentence completely.
After you’ve proofread your work, do a final pass to make sure you’ve caught everything. Here are some tools that designers use to check their own work:
• Hemingway App (http://www.hemingwayapp.com/
)
Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com/
)
HOW HAVE I APPLIED AI TO THE MAKING OF THIS PORTFOLIO, AND HOW DO I USE IT IN MY DAILY LIFE?
I used gen AI tools to brainstorm ideas, boost your productivity, help avoid mistakes, and aid in the decision-making process.
As well as helping me in analyzing data, building personas, and improving accessibility.
PROMPTING FRAMEWORK:
Describe your TASK, specifying a persona and format preference.
Create: Include any CONTEXT the gen AI tool might need to give you what you want.
Really: Add REFERENCES the gen AI tool can use to inform its output.
Excellent: Next, EVALUATE the output to identify opportunities for improvement.
Inputs: Then, ITERATE on your initial prompt to attain those improvements.
Basic guidelines for responsible use of generative AI
AI tools have their share of limitations. To use generative AI responsibly, make sure to:
Review generative AI outputs carefully for accuracy and usefulness.
Disclose your use of generative AI.
Consider the privacy and security implications of using generative AI, and avoid entering sensitive information.
Apply a human-in-the-loop approach, as AI should always serve as a complement to our human skills and abilities.
Gen AI tools to brainstorm ideas, boost your productivity, help you avoid mistakes, and aid in your decision-making process