After all, it is there that potential customers are looking for us, and it is by our portfolio that they will assess whether we are suitable for them. So for us, illustrators, there is nothing more important than creating a high-quality, correct, and most importantly, in-demand portfolio.
Sometimes creating a UX-Design Portfolio seems like an insurmountable hurdle. In fact, it can be done in less than a couple of weeks. The most important thing is to understand how the portfolio should look and what kind of clients you want to get.
To put it simply, the portfolio and skills of a web designer are the product you are looking to sell, so you need to understand who your target customer is. Decide on the type of sites you want to create (landing pages, business card sites, corporate sites), as well as the areas of business for which you want to work (beauty industry, banking, construction, and so on).
If your skills are still not enough, we invite you to the course "Web design from scratch to PRO". You will be provided with an individual mentor, the opportunity to make an excellent portfolio, get your first orders, or an internship in the studio.
Come up with a client for creating Portfolio
When you have decided what kind of clients and from what area you want to attract, proceed to the UX-Design Portfolio.
Put yourself in the client's shoes and come up with a problem. To create your first landing page, we advise you to find a website design brief (there are many examples on the Web) and fill it out. Try to imagine what you would be most worried about as a customer.
Having set a task for yourself and filling out the brief, analyze your competitors: it never hurts to see how the industry leaders produce sites. Then check out Behance and Pinterest for good examples. Collect sites that you like, analyze them. Then think about which are the most winning colors and what is the typography or block design.
The last thing to be done is to combine the developments into one ready-made layout. In which program to do this is your choice, and it depends only on which of them is more pleasant and convenient for you to work with.
Design a beautiful case. Never present your work in the form of cluttered pictures - this is a sure way to ensure that your UX-Design Portfolio will not impress anyone. You need to place it on the platforms intended for this.
Take the time to complete the case. It often happens that the preparation of the presentation of the finished work takes almost more time than the project itself. In a case study, tell the fascinating and detailed history of the project, and don't just show pictures of the finished interface. Avoid common portfolio mistakes.
We've rounded up five of the most common mistakes when creating a UX-Design Portfolio. Your task is to prevent them:
- Undefined niche
This is what we talked about at the very beginning of the article. Having seen your portfolio, the client should immediately understand that he has come to the right place.
2. There are many works, but all are unsuccessful
Follow the less is more principle. If you have only three works in your portfolio, but they are ideally suited to the type and needs of the client, you are more likely to get an order than a designer with a dozen obscure works.
3. You haven't updated your portfolio for a long time
A portfolio is not a static document; it needs life and dynamics, so do not be lazy and make sure you constantly replenish it by uploading your best works.
4. Poorly designed case
If you've only uploaded the JPG of the site, the customer won't understand anything. For them, all these are incomprehensible pictures. Moreover, they can always distinguish a good site from a bad one, which is why they are looking for a UX-Design Portfolio specialist. Explain each step and show why you did it this way.
5. Blatant plagiarism
Yes, we are all inspired by the work of cool studios and successful freelancers, but this is not a reason to redraw their work and pass it off as ours. Sooner or later, it will be revealed, and your reputation will suffer forever.
Conclusion on creating a portfolio
Don't worry if you make mistakes at first. In addition to basic skills, the course will cover in detail the topic of creating a portfolio, finding clients, and much more.
You will plunge into the world of UX-Design Portfolio, master popular graphic editors, learn how to create layouts for websites and mobile applications - and as a result, you will get a profitable and in-demand profession, even if you have never done this before. To create an effective UX-Design Portfolio, you need to master a few foundational skills.
Having a UX portfolio is a must-have for any designer in the industry. It is a chance to visually demonstrate your abilities through the example of case studies and other studies, which show the work and creative process and the context of the project.
Whether it's for a one-off project or a full-time job, prospective clients or employers expect to see a flawless portfolio when considering a UX designer. Therefore, we advise you to take the time and effort to analyze your work, identify your strengths, and create an impressive portfolio that will convince even the most discerning employer of your professionalism.
Of course, a nuanced workflow is difficult to translate into a visual format, especially if your work is purely UX-related. As a reminder, UX is the experience a user gets when interacting with a website or app. The UX designer's job is to make this experience as enjoyable and simple as possible. Despite the variety of tasks and goals when designing user interfaces, there are many ways to communicate your work, whether you specialize in UX or UI.
To understand what information to include in a portfolio, how to structure and communicate it most effectively, check out the UX Portfolio Examples developed on the Wix platform. At the end of the article, you will find a checklist that will help you remember the important things when creating your own portfolio site.
Now that you have read our information, you can create your own representation on the network. Take into account all the basic guidelines for building a UX portfolio that you learned in this article:
- Make it immediately clear who you are and what you do.
- Be available for communication.
- Please enter your current employment status.
- Reflect your personality.
- Accompany the cases with explanations and pictures.
- Talk about the whole process, not just the final product.
- Use clear micro text.
- Consider adding a resume.
They will help you in your endeavors.
