We are designers.
We are supposedly the creatives that will help solve problems with creativity. We are the jack-of-all-trades; adaptable and witty, ready to take on any task.
And yet, we can't make unique portfolios even to save our lives.
"What is up with all these cookie cutter portfolios?" I lamented, in my head. I was reviewing maybe my 12th junior bootcamp graduate portfolio that day and needless to say, I wasn't having a good time.
While I am happy to complete the first dozen of portfolio reviews for my students, frustration swept over me knowing that all in that dozen should re-do their portfolios.
I am a junior UX designer passionate about solving problems!
What problems?
I created a persona to reflect the target users of the application.
For what?
Here is a prototype that shows you the solution flow.
No interaction design?
I quit being a bootcamp mentor that same week.
The art of storytelling is lost to the new generation of designers. Design has always been an extremely competitive industry. It was back in the days of Chris Do from The Futur, and it still is in our modern world of user experience design.
Same shit, different story.
Finding a job you qualify to apply for is one of the greatest challenges designers face today —And the next big challenge is actually getting that job.
The main focus of a lot of designers today is honing their technical skillsets. I get it; skills matter and you are unlikely to be hired if you can't even use Figma properly. But you know what else matters? Being able to sell yourself.
Here's why.
It is no secret how you do your work.
UX design is one of the most accessible design industries available in the market today. Anyone can come in and learn the core skillsets to be a user experience professional; and if you do enough research — you can learn it all for free.
Anyone can learn how to do interviews, userflows, wireframes and basic UI in a few months.
So what makes you so special that I'll pay you to do it?
Get a damn specialty.
My biggest issue with junior designers today is their lack of focus on what they actually want to do.
Why the hell did you join the UX industry?
Do yourself a favour and answer that question. Do you want to design apps? Do you want to work in a specific industry? Where do you want to specialise in the future?
Too many portfolios show off too much work from all over the place. While you might think more work makes you a more attractive candidate, it actually puts you at a disadvantage most of the time because hiring managers don't actually know what the hell you excel at.
If we wanted a design monkey, we'd go to Fiverr.
Your work is a story, not a successful case study.
The biggest misconception for portfolios today is that only successes matter.
That can't be further from the truth. While a positive case study proves your track record in delivering success, it doesn't show how you handle failure and setbacks. And trust me, you'll face more failures in your design career than successes.
Too many designers show only the 'good' stuff. And this is my personal opinion — It makes you look fake as f*ck. It's unrealistic for a designer to constantly deliver. Either you're lying or delusional or both.
But I digress. Your work, end of the day, is like a children's storybook. You have your introduction, the middle part, the climax and an ending. If all your stories are feel-good ones with no lessons or consequences, I don't want to read it.
All I see in most portfolios today is a predictable start and end of a project. Sorry darlings, design simply doesn't work that way.
Stop using UXfolio. Please I'm begging you.
I have an intense hatred for reviewing work that's on a website that uses the same damn templates as a thousand other people.
UXfolio sucks. I rather look at your Behance profile than a UXfolio site. I'd rather look at a PDF than a UXfolio site. Because at least on those platforms you actually f*cking design the way you present your work.
It's absolutely ironic that UX designers, who are supposedly the masters of digital design, can't and don't design their own website if they have one.
Please know your own limits. If you can't do proper web design, either don't, or get a professional to do it for you. Or use a different platform to present your work.
Here's a list of how my portfolio evolved over the years:
- 2016 Portfolio: PDF file
- 2017 Portfolio: PDF file + Behance
- 2018 Portfolio: You guessed it — PDF file
- 2019 Portfolio: Website (Customised)
- 2020 Portfolio — Present Portfolio: Website (with yearly updates)
A very popular and great alternative juniors use nowadays is Notion.
You don't need a personal website to succeed. Tried and tested.
Let your personality shine.
You know what makes you stand out when your work is mediocre as heck?
That's right: ✨ Your personality ✨
That's why it's so, so important to write a bio in your resume, figure out personal branding, or spend some time to figure out whats the best format for your portfolio to make you a unique candidate to hire.
Too many designers neglect the power of personal branding and personal story-telling. Hiring managers aren't just looking at technical skillsets when we hire a new team mate; we're also looking at the person we're hiring and if they're a culture fit.
My laptop crashed one day, causing me to lose my precious portfolio design references because like many lazy psychos, I don't back up my computer.
That's right, you heard me. I need references to design my portfolio.
I ain't f*cking original. My website is a Frankenstein of all the portfolios I loved from other designers I respect.
So today I share my biggest tip about designing better portfolios; Reference designers who are better than you. Let me repeat: reference from high-quality professionals, instead of the shitty templates your bootcamps gave you.
When it comes to creating websites, the sky's the limit.
My process to designing / re-designing portfolios
Look, I know I rant a lot. But at end of the day, I'd like to make my vents educational in some way.
So to reward you for putting up with my passionate story-telling the last 5 minutes, I'm sharing my process that enables me to create a portfolio I can be proud of.
You're about to read knowledge that may be liquid gold.
1. Determine your platform
As I mentioned earlier when I barfed on UXfolio, there's many different ways to present your work. I got through the first 3 years of my design career using PDFs alone, and I only branched out to a website much later because I was interested in having an online space to call my own.
Notion is also intensively popular with designers today who love to write and neatly document their work. Medium is also known to be used for showing off some case studies. Both of these platforms offers flexible privacy settings if you need them, and can be completely free.
So do your research, and weigh the pros and cons of each platform available to you, and make a decision.
In summary, here are your choices:
[A] PDF: Flexible creative freedom to present your work, easily read on multiple devices without the worry of layout issues. Recommended for juniors with design background who can't afford a site.
[B] Notion: Easy editing of content anytime, awesome layout templates readily available. Free to a certain degree. Great for designers obsessed with neatness and organisation. Also highly recommended for researchers.
[C] Medium: Free public profile with the ability to pin case studies or show off thought leadership for designers who love writing. Free, and with the possibility to monetise your content. For the process-oriented designer or design managers wanting to show thought leadership.
[D] Website: Absolute freedom to create whatever you want on your own domain. Can be costly and difficult to maintain if you don't know what you're doing. Also can work against you if you don't know sh*t about web design. Recommended for mid-level to senior designers, or someone who has some web design knowledge.
[E] Design Platforms (e.g. Behance, Dribble): Sort of like a PDF, but you get your public online profile. Great starting point for juniors or a transitioning professional, as it also acts as a reference point for good design and how other designers present their work.
[F] Figma Prototype: A fake website that's probably easier for juniors to work with. I personally don't like this but if you are sure you can 'Wow!' someone with your creation, go for it. Free, and let's you practice Figma. The downside: it's not responsive.
There's probably more I can't cover, but please don't tell me you don't have choices out there. They exist. Find them, find out.
2. Get references
There is no originality in design. In fact, some design experts argue if the theory of originality is valid at all. As designers, we are inspired by the things that surround us, and that can hold true when creating portfolios.
When you use a portfolio template blindly, your work immediately becomes dull. Uninspiring. Boring. The thrill I get when hunting and exploring exceptional portfolios is the same thrill I want my hiring managers to have when they look at my work.
It is all about presentation.
And in order to find or create or replicate that "Oomph" in presentation, you need to look at the work of others and be able to pick out what excites you.
I'll let the cat out of the bag: My favourite place to scout web portfolios has to be Bestfolios.com
You'll probably spend hours on it like I do. Can you guess where I get my latest inspirations from?
Just like how every individual is unique, that same principle applies to designers and our work. We all will have our likes and dislikes, we all will have a preference to style. Eventually, you'll find your portfolio inspired by the actual work that you do, and evolve your tastes accordingly.
Be inspired. Your hiring manager will thank you later.
If you're looking at PDFs, Issuu.com is a great place for PDF portfolio inspo. It's also great for uploading your PDF work and making it super easy for hiring managers to flip through your work.
3. Mock your design
We almost always wireframe our designs before we go high-fidelity, so why don't we do it for our portfolios?
Designers, particularly juniors, get really anxious about completing their portfolio. "I just want to get it done, so I can start applying for jobs!", and they zone into this focus of finishing instead of trying out different ways to get that portfolio done.
I get it. Portfolios are time-consuming. Without it, getting a job is nearly impossible. But you know what also costs you your job opportunity?
That's right; Sh*tty portfolios.
The consequences of not exploring better designs when doing UX is users not loving your product. The exact same consequence happens when you don't do explorations with your portfolio, but instead of disappointed users, you get disappointed hiring managers.
It's seriously not that difficult to mock a few layouts and content structure on Figma, ask for feedback there, then replicate the most successful design on whatever platform you chose to host your portfolio on.
Spend your time making the best portfolio you can; it'll pay off, I promise.
4. Redesign it over again.
A controversial topic, but there are a few groups of designers that redesign their portfolio every year. For some hard-core professionals, they do it every quarter.
I never thought I'll be part of that former group, but I have come to love portfolio design and find it getting more challenging as each year passes.
As designers, we grow. Those that apply themselves grow much faster than average and work on more projects than most. A portfolio designed a year or two ago can't accurately display that growth, and so, a redesign would be appropriate.
With each redesign, you might get worse or you might get better. But the main principle of portfolio design remains: you get to create something that inspires others, and something that makes you stand out even further.
So please, stop designing boring portfolios.
Stop designing boring UX portfolios, I know you can do it, yes you can. I've revealed all my secrets, don't just give this a scan! Hard work is good for you, you know I'm right. If you use another UXfolio template, it would be such a plight.
Stop designing boring UX portfolios, take these lessons as you evolve for tomorrow. Reference from the best, let inspiration do the rest. Go from boring, to scoring, your dream jobs with a better portfolio.
Please. Design. Better. Portfolios.
Before you crap on my portfolio, make sure yours is better than mine first. Peace.
Thanks for reading till the end. With the amount of attention this article is getting, I am offering to screen your portfolio to see if you'll land an interview. Details here.