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10 Exceptional Product Design Portfolios with Case Study Breakdowns

After working with many designers throughout my own career and helping many more build their job-ready portfolios, there are a few designers that I keep coming back to for inspiration and some that are inspiring a new generation of UI/UX and Product Designers to enter the field.

I've chosen 10 of our favorite UI/UX and Product Designers—a colorful tapestry of digital product architects that have evolved from graphic designers, marketers, architects, engineers and everything in-between. Their unique backgrounds and journey bring something special to our industry and illustrate how we can all do more meaningful, interesting and impactful work:

There are 10 things in particular that make these 10 designers really stand out:

• They have each honed their craft from the bottom up (whether having gone through a traditional academic program, an online course like DesignerUp , or being self-taught).
• They are all at different stages of their careers (some newly minted and others seasoned veterans).
• They continue to learn, grow, push the envelope, document and share their genuine experiences.
• They each hail from a different background (and sometimes non-design industry) that informs who they are and what they work on as a designer.
• Their evolution is apparent in their work.
• They are passionate about the problems they solve and find joy in connecting with the users they serve.
• They are transparent about their processes, thoughtful in their communication about it and not afraid to show what worked and what didn't.
• They have focused portfolios that reveal their unique point of view as a designer.
• They are a diverse group of designers from different cultural, gender and socio-economic backgrounds.
• They have so much to teach us all about design and how to use it to express authenticity and to understand and help others do the same.

Case Study Format:   http://simonpan.com/work/uber/

• The Challenge
• Early Insights
• Reframing the Problem
• The Redesign
• Design Strategy

“In a city as busy as San Francisco, over $1 million was wasted per week because of problematic pickups.”

Madeline Wukusick

Madeline is a graduate of our DesignerUp Product Design course. She was able to create an incredible portfolio working through our curriculum, blended with her background in graphic and data design that set her up for immediate success landing professional design roles.

Case Study Format:

• The Observed Problem
• The Research
• In the Insights
• The proposed How Might We Statements
• Lean Canvas and Product Strategy
• Business Requirements
• The Solutions and MVP Features
• Things that could be improved

"Thanks for helping me work through these iterations—it's been tremendously helpful! You have such a knack for fine-tuning and teasing out subtle themes that I hadn't noticed before. From these comments, I have a better sense of some of my growth areas to work on and ways in which to push myself. It also helped me realize that I am most interested in hybrid roles, or at least roles with a strong visual component. Really grateful to have discovered this course :-)" - Madeline

Not an Italian mobster; Johny Vino is an engineers' designer. I've been a long time admirer of his work every since his mind-blowing animations and micro-interactions arrested me mid Dribbble scroll many years ago. He is a thoughtful, meticulous designer that understands how to align user and business goals all while transmuting conventional interaction patterns into something that is altogether transcendent yet familiar.

Case Study Format: https://johnyvino.com/

Process, Goal and Task Oriented that varies with each project

• What he worked on
• What he aim to accomplish
• Business Goals
• Representation of complex data
• Integration

Humans are not perfect. I like to apply 3 principles to ever product I design to help me focus on that. Fitt's Law, Mimicry, Aesthetic Usability Effect

Steph Parrott

Steph is a product designer based in Toronto. Currently working on Plantd and most recently at Square in San Francisco.

Case Study Format: https://www.stephparrott.com/plantd/

• Roles and Process
• App Overview
• Feature proposal
• Design to Development
• Looking to the future and what's next

"As someone who hasn’t eaten meat in almost 20 years, I’m highly motivated to put in the work to find plant-based options, but for those starting to dabble, how can we except them to do the same?" - Steph

Tom is the co-founder of the community and event series Design Club , and an investor & advisor to Bricklane . He currently works  own clients, helping invent, design, and launch new ventures. Before that he held design leadership roles at fashion and fintech startups, and was as a senior designer at a global agency. Case Study Format: http://tom.pe/gc-dashboard.html

• Summary of the problem space, challenges, project and contribution
• Goal and Problem
• Design Principles applied
• Proposed solution and representation of dashboard and data
• Design frameworks used
• Future considerations

"The problem here is that by trying to create something for everyone, we risked helping no one. Avoiding the design equivelant of an identity crisis became a big focus of mine. I'd do this by finding ways to inject a point of view into the product. By knowing what it wasn't, as well as what it was." - Tom Petty

Want to create an incredible portfolio like these full of amazing case studies to get you hired? Enroll in our Product Design Course today!

Garett MacGillivray

Much like myself and other designers of a particular generation, Aussie/Canadian Garett MacGillivray has been around the block and through the evolution of graphic designer, web design, UI/UX Designers and now landed squarely as a full stack Product Designer.

Case Study Format: https://aucadian.com.au/project/goloop

• Exploration and Ideation
• Component Library
• B2B product interface

I've had many labels throughout my career in the digital industry. It's safe to say that I enjoy crafting digital experiences.

Elise is a Bay Area designer that jumped to the bay from NYU. She comes from an advertising and marketing background and has fine tuned her communication skills and processes vast knowledge of the tech and digital product industry has a whole having been on the broadcasting and marketing side of things.

Case Study Format: http://www.elisefu.com/work-komeeda/

• Impact/Metrics
• User testing
• User research
• Information Architecture
• Implementation
• Major Findings
• Formal User Testing

I was driven to design because I felt excited and rewarding to learn about people’s goals and desires, help them solve problems and make their lives easier.

Latiesha Caston

Latisha is a User Experience Designer passionate about holistic, accessible, and inclusive design, based in Seattle.

Case Study Format: https://www.latieshacaston.com/veggie-grill-online-ordering-experience

• The Problem
• The High-level Goal
• The approach
• Pain Points
• Optimizing flow and improving architecture
• Interaction model breakdown
• Looking to the future

"Our high level goal was to design a holistic order-ahead experience that keeps the core of what we've built, while delivering on opportunities, addressing pain points, and setting the stage for the future." - Latisha

Karolis Kosas

Having recently joined the amazing design team at Stripe as a Product designer, Karolis's portfolio is clean and minimal and his case studies really understand the mental model of the user, getting into their heads and revealing the friction points they are feeling and how he can insert a solution that improves on the experience with compromising the soul of the designer.

Case Study Format: http://karoliskosas.com/cinemaclub/

• prototyping
• Built the product from zero

Visual communication is a self-sufficient organism capable of adapting and evolving based on the input of multiple sources.Acting in such context, the designer is an initiator, establishing methods and boundaries for the system to establish itself as an independent entity.

Rohit Singh

One of o ur very own graduates ! Rohit Singh is an up and coming product designer with a focus on helping early-stage startups and new businesses blossom.

Rohit outlines his process for creating an MVP for his digital product from scratch, which serves as a sort of physical and virtual library for the poorest class of India.

Case Study Format: https://work.khadush.in/booksite-an-online-physical-book-sharing-platform/

• Inspiration
• User Interviews
• Lean Canvas
• Visual Design
• Final Words

I specialize in helping early stage startups validate their riskiest assumptions using leading design methods

After analyzing all of these case studies and working with 100s of designers in our product design course to get them ready for the job application process, we've created our own tried-and-true templates to make it easy for designers to replicate the successful format and structure of these top portfolios using Notion .

Each of these amazing portfolios tells the story of the product designer, their evolution, their process and shows what they bring to the world. But it's not easy doing what they do or knowing exactly how to show and tell who you are as designer. Having a solid design education and getting feedback from the design community is the best way to ensure that your work is up to par and being presented in a way the shows your skills and your worth.

Have a look at our partners' advice over at Pathrise on building a strong UX design portfolio .

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How to write project case studies for your portfolio

Writing case studies might be the most dreaded part of building a design portfolio. After all the work and time it takes curating projects, designing pages, saving out images, etc., who wants to actually sit down and EXPLAIN it all? But next to your About page, case studies are the most important pa

Aside from showing your experience and skill, case studies give your potential client or employer an idea of how you work and think. Case studies are basically the whole point of building a portfolio — which is why Semplice and Carbonmade, our portfolio tools, were built around just that. Especially with more complex work such as UX design, a case study is a must to explain your work. Of course, your case study approach depends on your personal style and goals, but I generally recommend these rules when creating your project pages.

1. Write down your case studies before you do almost anything else

I know this is not as fun as designing your website but like most things in life, it helps to get the hardest task out of the way first. Near the end of the project you will just want to press that launch button, so anything you write at that time will be rushed and lazy. Or even worse, you will hit a wall and procrastinate launching the whole thing.

Write about your projects as early as you can, even if you have to adjust the copy slightly later to fit your final page layout. I usually just put all my thoughts in Evernote or a Google Doc. Think of your project in phases and start with Phase 1, which is usually the ideation or exploration phase. Write down your thoughts, and then continue to Phase 2. Don't bother with images just yet, this is just for you to help you get it all down.

If inspiration strikes otherwise, so be it. But in most cases you will thank yourself later by doing this first.

2. Keep it brief & caption everything

People are usually scanning your projects to get a general idea of your skills and the way you work. Don't write a novel, just share a short paragraph or two that makes your project interesting and relatable to your reader.

I've read research that says one of the first things people read in a newspaper are the little captions underneath the images. Think of your case study the same way. If someone scrolls through your case study and only reads the little 1-2 sentence captions, they should still understand your project. Focus on the captions first, and then fill in any lengthier content.

3. Include the right details

It all depends on your personal style and you don’t need to literally copy/paste this format, but your case study should loosely follow this outline or provide this information:

Name of client, what they do & their location: Give your reader context and write a quick sentence about what this project or product is all about. This will show your experience and interest in specific types of clients or design work. Naming the location will also help if you want to make it clear you work with clients all over, as opposed to just your hometown.

Goal for the project: What did the client ask you to do?  What was the briefing? What was the main challenge and measure of success? Did you have a certain idea or expectation for the project when you began?

Your experience: Anything interesting to share about your process for this project? Did you take a unique angle or notice some surprising insight? Do you have some early sketches we can see? Why did you choose that approach? Ask yourself WHY WHY WHY a thousand times, and then answer those questions.

The outcome: Did you feel proud of the result? Did it exceed your expectations? Did it increase the client’s sales by 2000%? Don’t get too technical or share some crazy analytics report (and definitely do not make anything up), just include a brief sentence or two that shares how the project was successful. A case study should ideally be a success story. If it's not, tell us why the project is still valuable or meaningful (maybe the client didn't choose your favorite concept for example, but you still love the work you did) and what you learned from it.

Again, it doesn’t need to be some stiff, clinical report. Just set everything up for the reader so they can fully appreciate what went into the project and how you approach your work.

4. Give credit & explain your role

This is especially important if it was a team project. If I just see a list of names without their roles, I might be a little suspicious about what you actually did on this project. But whether or not this was a team project, it’s helpful for us to understand what role you played. This could be as simple as listing “art direction & design” beside the project summary. Forgetting this detail is crucial and can mean the difference between getting hired or not.

"We should finish reading with a sense of your personality and design process."

5. Write in your voice

You and your client might know what they mean, but acronyms and buzzwords only distance your reader. Don’t try to impress with lofty language, just share your work in your own voice and be as clear as possible. We should finish reading with a sense of your personality and design process.

Whatever you do, don’t just copy/paste words about your client’s product from their website. The shift in voice will be obvious and will only make you seem lazy.

6. Don’t image dump

I’ve seen countless portfolios that either don’t include a case study at all or just have one sentence with a bunch of photos below for the reader to sort out on their own. That doesn’t sell your work the way it deserves. (Plus no copy = bad SEO, if you care about that.)

Consider a layout that lets you include a sentence or two beside each image, so you can explain your process and give us insight into what we’re seeing. A bunch of photos on a page might look pretty, but as almost every company in our "How to Get a Job at X" series has voiced, it's not enough. Your potential employer or client needs context. We need to understand who you are, how you work and how you might contribute to our team/culture.

7. Think of each case study like a magazine feature

This goes for your content and layout. Using a similar page template for your case studies is fine, but you should at least adjust it to fit the project and look of the work.

Think of the way magazine articles are laid out. They’re designed to fully immerse you in the piece and create an experience. They include photos at specific places to illustrate a point or bring a scene to life. They use pull quotes to pique your interest or point out an especially memorable part of the story. They break up paragraphs with photos, but take care to not disrupt your reading experience.

This is why Semplice allows designers to create fully branded case studies — meaning you can design every piece of your page to fit the project’s look and feel, from the navigation down to the footer. Every project is different and your case studies should be too.

I could go on and on, but when it comes down to it, no one-size-fits-all solution works for case studies. It all depends on you, your project, style and the kind of work you do. As we say in this article about writing as a designer (good tips in there as well), just remember to write for that one person on the other side of the screen. It's one person hiring you for the job after all – and often that person is a recruiter or someone who's not necessarily a designer like you. Design your portfolio and write your case studies with your reader in mind, and you'll be one step closer to doing the work you want to do.

Read more portfolio tips here and be sure to check out the Semplice Showcase for design portfolio inspiration.

Featured article image by Liz Wells

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How To Write A Case Study For Your Design Portfolio

Case studies are an important part of any designer’s portfolio. Read this article to learn everything you need to know to start writing the perfect case study.

When you’re putting together your online design portfolio , design case studies are a great way to showcase your experience and skills. They also give potential clients a window into how you work.

By showing off what you can do and your design process, case studies can help you land more clients and freelance design jobs —so it can be smart to dedicate an entire section of your online portfolio website to case studies.

Getting Started

So—what is a design case study and how do they fit in your portfolio.

Let’s get some definitions out of the way first, shall we? A design case study is an example of a successful project you’ve completed. The exact case study format can vary greatly depending on your style and preferences, but typically it should outline the problem or assignment, show off your solution, and explain your approach.

One of the best ways to do that is to use a case study design that’s similar to a magazine article or long-form web article with lots of images throughout. When building your case study portfolio, create a new page for each case study. Then create a listing of all your case studies with an image and link to each of them. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of creating these case studies.

Choose Your Best Projects

To make your online portfolio the best it can be , it’s good to be picky when choosing projects for case studies. Since your portfolio will often act as your first impression with potential clients, you only want it to showcase your best work.

If you have a large collection of completed projects, you may have an urge to do a ton of case studies. There’s an argument to be made in favor of that, since it’s a way to show off your extensive experience. In addition, by including a wide variety of case studies, it’s more likely that potential clients will be able to find one that closely relates to their business or upcoming project.

But don’t let your desire to have many case studies on your portfolio lead you to include projects you’re not as proud of. Keep in mind that your potential clients are probably busy people, so you shouldn’t expect them to wade through a massive list of case studies. If you include too many, you can never be sure which ones potential clients will take a look at. As a result, they may miss out on seeing some of your best work.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how many case studies to include. It’ll depend on the amount of experience you have, and how many of your completed projects you consider to be among your best work.

Use Your Design Expertise

When creating the case study section of your portfolio, use your designer’s eye to make everything attractive and easily digestible. One important guideline is to choose a layout that will enable you to include copy and image captions throughout.

Don’t have your portfolio up and running yet and not sure which portfolio platform is best for you? Try one that offers a free trial and a variety of cool templates that you can play around with to best showcase your design case studies.

If you don’t provide context for every image you include, it can end up looking like just a (somewhat confusing) image gallery. Case studies are more than that—they should explain everything that went into what you see in the images.

Check Out Other Case Study Examples for Inspiration

Looking at case study examples from successful designers is a great way to get ideas for making your case study portfolio more effective. Pay special attention to the case study design elements, including the layout, the number of images, and amount of copy. This will give you a better idea of how the designer keeps visitors interested in the story behind their projects.

To see some great case study examples, check out these UX designer portfolios .

Try a Case Study Template

There are plenty of resources online that offer free case study templates . These templates can be helpful, as they include questions that’ll help you ensure you’ve included all the important information.

However, most of them are not tailored to designers. These general case study templates don’t have the formatting you’ll want (i.e. the ability to include lots of images). Even the ones that are aimed at designers aren’t as effective as creating your own design. That’s why case study templates are best used as a starting point to get you thinking, or as a checklist to ensure you’ve included everything.

How to Write Case Studies

Maintain your usual tone.

You should write your case studies in the same personal, authentic (yet still professional!) tone of voice as you would when creating the About Me section of your portfolio . Don’t get bogged down in too much technical detail and jargon—that will make your case studies harder to read.

Since your case studies are part of your online portfolio, changing your usual tone can be jarring to the reader.

Instead, everything on your portfolio should have a consistent style. This will help you with creating brand identity . The result will be potential clients will be more connected to your writing and get the feeling that they’re learning what makes you unique.

Provide Some Context

Case studies are more effective when you include some information at the beginning to set the stage. This can include things like the date of the project, name of the client, and what the client does. Providing some context will make the case study more relatable to potential clients.

Also, by including the date of the project, you can highlight how your work has progressed over time. However, you don’t want to bog down this part of the case study with too much information. So it only really needs to be a sentence or two.

Explain the Client’s Expectations

Another important piece of information to include near the beginning of your case study is what the client wanted to accomplish with the project. Consider the guidelines the client provided, and what they would consider a successful outcome.

Did this project involve unique requirements? Did you tailor the design to suit the client’s brand or target audience? Did you have to balance some conflicting requirements?

Establishing the client’s expectations early on in the case study will help you later when you want to explain how you made the project a success.

Document Your Design Process

As you write your case study, you should take a look at your process from an outsider’s point of view. You already know why you made the decisions you did, so it may feel like you’re explaining the obvious. But by explaining your thought process, the case study will highlight all the consideration you put into the design project.

This can include everything from your initial plan to your inspiration, and the changes you made along the way. Basically, you should think about why you took the approach you did, and then explain it.

At this point, consider mentioning any tricks you use to make your design process more efficient . That can include how you managed your time, how you communicated with clients, and how you kept things on track.

Don’t Be Afraid to Mention Challenges

When writing a case study, it can be tempting to only explain the parts that went flawlessly. But you should consider mentioning any challenges that popped up along the way.

Was this project assigned with an extremely tight deadline? Did you have to ask the client to clarify their desired outcome? Were there revisions requested?

If you have any early drafts or drawings from the project saved, it can be a good idea to include them in the case study as well—even if they show that you initially had a very different design in mind than you ended up with. This can show your flexibility and willingness to go in new directions in order to achieve the best results.

Mentioning these challenges is another opportunity to highlight your value as a designer to potential clients. It will give you a chance to explain how you overcame those challenges and made the project a success.

Show How the Project’s Success Was Measured

Case studies are most engaging when they’re written like stories. If you followed the guidelines in this article, you started by explaining the assignment. Next, you described the process you went through when working on it. Now, conclude by going over how you know the project was a success.

This can include mentioning that all of the client’s guidelines were met, and explaining how the design ended up being used.

Check if you still have any emails or communications with the client about their satisfaction with the completed project. This can help put you in the right mindset for hyping up the results. You may even want to include a quote from the client praising your work.

Start Writing Your Case Studies ASAP

Since case studies involve explaining your process, it’s best to do them while the project is still fresh in your mind. That may sound like a pain; once you put a project to bed, you’re probably not looking forward to doing more work on it. But if you get started on your case study right away, it’s easier to remember everything that went into the design project, and why you made the choices you did.

If you’re just starting writing your case studies for projects you’ve completed in the past, don’t worry. It will just require a couple more steps, as you may need to refresh your memory a bit.

Start by taking a look at any emails or assignment documents that show what the client requested. Reviewing those guidelines will make it easier to know what to include in your case study about how you met all of the client’s expectations.

Another helpful resource is preliminary drafts, drawings, or notes you may have saved. Next, go through the completed project and remind yourself of all the work that went into achieving that final design.

Draw Potential Clients to See Your Case Studies

Having a great portfolio is the key to getting hired . By adding some case studies to your design portfolio, you’ll give potential clients insight into how you work, and the value you can offer them.

But it won’t do you any good if they don’t visit your portfolio in the first place! Luckily, there are many ways you can increase your chances. One way is to add a blog to your portfolio , as that will improve your site’s SEO and draw in visitors from search results. Another is to promote your design business using social media . If you’re looking to extend your reach further, consider investing in a Facebook ad campaign , as its likely easier and less expensive than you think.

Once clients lay eyes on all your well-written, beautifully designed case studies, the work will come roaring in!

Want to learn more about creating the perfect design portfolio? 5 Designers Reveal How to Get Clients With Your Portfolio 20 Design Portfolios You Need to See for Inspiration Study: How Does the Quality of Your Portfolio Site Influence Getting Hired?

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CÅSE STUDIËS

Case studies are the foundation of your portfolio. But writing great case studies is as daunting as assembling that Swedish shelf that’s also a bed that’s also a bicycle. The Semplice guide to case studies makes it easy.

Jot down your main points – before you do anything else.

• Rather than writing content to fit your design, start with it.
• Don't bother with images or layout yet. Simply put down your thoughts in a doc.
• Think of your project in phases. Start with Phase 1 (usually the ideation or exploration phase).  Write it all down and continue to Phase 2.

Keep it brief & caption everything.

People scan, they don’t read. If we scroll through and only read your 1-2 sentence captions, we should still understand the project. The whole thing should take three minutes to read, tops.

Mackey Saturday 's case studies are scannable with short paragraphs between images.

Mackey Saturday's case studies are scannable with short paragraphs between images.

If you are reading this, it is because your browser does not support the HTML5 video element.

Do make your case study scannable with headlines, short paragraphs and captions.

Don’t write a novel, Dickens. We don’t get extra points for word count anymore.

Don’t write a novel. We don’t get extra points for word count anymore.

Give credit & explain your role.

This could be as simple as listing “Role: art direction & design” or including a full list of team credits (if you’re nice). Understanding what part you played is crucial and can mean the difference between getting hired or not.

Christina Michelitsch lists credits on each project just like a film would. It's classy.

Do include team members and your role on the project.

Don’t be shady about what part you played in the work.

Write in your voice.

Acronyms and buzzwords only distance your reader. Don’t try to impress with lofty language. Just share your work in your own voice and be as clear as possible.

We should finish reading with a sense of your personality.

Provide context to the project and your design process.

Think about what your reader needs to know to appreciate this project. As concisely as possible, explain how you approached the problem and how you worked through it.

Caroline Lewandowski 's case studies share the project challenge and how she solved it.

Do share how you approached a project from concept to solution.

Don’t drop a bunch of photos on the page without context and call it done.

Don’t add a bunch of photos to the page without context.

Think of each case study like a magazine feature.

Magazine spreads are designed to fully immerse you in the piece. They include photos at specific places to illustrate a point or bring a scene to life. They use pull quotes to pique your interest or point out a compelling part of the story. They break up paragraphs with photos, but take care to not disrupt your reading experience.

Think about the story you want to tell with your case study. Each story is unique, and your case studies should be too.

Instead of using the same template for every project,  Noemie Le Coz   customizes each page to fit the brand and tell a story.

Instead of using the same template for every project, customize it to fit the project. Semplice allows you to use unique navigations, footers and more to fit the work.

Do design each page uniquely to fit the work and put your project in the best light. 

Do design every piece of your project page to best set up your work.

Don't use the exact same template for every project, if you can avoid it.

Do you have all the right details in your case study?

1. Title of project

Consider including the type of work in the title so we can easily see your specialities at a glance. 

For example, instead of “Nike Air Max” say “Nike Air Max ecommerce experience.”

2. Introduction & goal

Set the scene for your reader with a quick sentence explaining what this project is all about.

What’s the product? What was the briefing? What challenge did you set out to solve? Did you have a certain idea or expectation for the project when you began?

3. Process & experience

In a paragraph or two, explain how you worked through the project. Why did you choose that approach? Did you take a unique angle or notice some surprising insight? Ask yourself “why” a thousand times, and then answer those questions.

4. The outcome

What happened? Did you feel proud of the result? Did it increase the client’s sales by 2000%? 

A case study should ideally be a success story. If it's not, tell us why it's meaningful and what you learned from it.

5. Credits & your role

This could be as simple as listing “art direction & design” beside the project summary or listing the full team like a film.

6. Images with captions

If someone scrolls through your case study and only reads the headlines and captions, they should still understand your project. 

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How to write engaging case studies for your portfolio

We examine 5 portfolios with powerful case studies.

Project case studies are one of the most important yet overlooked parts of building a design portfolio . In our efforts to design the perfect portfolio and showcase our visual work, we often rush the copy or omit it entirely, leaving only a shallow overview of who we are and what we can do. But dumping a bunch of photos on your project pages without any context sells your work short.

Case studies are so crucial to the success of a designer's website that we built Semplice , a portfolio system for designers, entirely around them. (If you're after design portfolio and case study inspiration, check out the Semplice Showcase .) 

Your portfolio case studies are your opportunity to show prospective clients and employers how you think, how you work and what you can contribute to the world. Here are five examples of designers who do case studies well. 

01. Liz Wells

As a UX designer, Liz Wells has the unique task of making sitemaps, sketches, prototypes and user flows both visually engaging and concrete for her readers. She strikes the perfect balance in her portfolio case studies, highlighting work for brands like Google, Viceland and Spotify. 

Wells shares the project story from challenge to solution, taking care to explain her process along the way. Photos, videos – even early sketches torn from her notebooks – are thoughtfully photographed and laid out. All of it works together to not only showcase Wells' work, but also who she is and how she thinks.

On my blog, I publish a series in which I interview top companies about how to get a design job where they work. Almost every company has voiced that they want to understand how you think and see your process. 

Think about your project in phases and share your work – even the less glamorous notes and sketches, if they’re important to the story – from beginning to end, and you’ll find you have plenty to say. 

02. Melissa Deckhert

Melissa Deckert ’s case studies may be minimal but they pack a punch. Some, like her Food Quote GIFs case study for Tumblr, hook you in with a little secret that makes you look closer at the work.

“Tumblr asked me to animate a few food quotes for an internal project,” Deckert explains in the case study. “Naturally I found a way to weave Beyonce into two out of three.” Short and sweet, but the last line creates intrigue and make you want to see more.

Others case studies, like her In Every Moment We Are Alive book cover project, surprise you with a big reveal at the end. The case study works in reverse, leading with the finished product (the final book cover) and ending with a behind-the-scenes shot that makes you rethink what you saw before. 

Despite all our excuses, designers can write too . While it’s good to share your process, it also helps to remember the one person who is reading your website. They’re tired, they’re busy and they’ve probably reviewed dozens of portfolios today already. If your case study surprises them and brightens their day, it will be remembered. 

03. Naim Sheriff

Naim Sheriff breaks his case studies into sections, making the page easy to read and digest. He leads with a brief paragraph introducing the client and task at hand, then shares each project element in bite-sized pieces. 

Most importantly, he explains his visuals instead of just dumping them on the page. Sheriff’s case studies are rich in imagery but he doesn’t just show, he tells.

Just as with a newspaper or magazine article, it’s important to remember people are scanning your case studies. They may decide to read deeper if something catches their interest, or they may just skim and move on to the next project. 

Use your layout to guide them through the content and draw them deeper. Make your captions meaningful for scanners, and write easy-to-read paragraphs for the ones who stay.

04. Mackey Saturday

Mackey Saturday ’s case studies, like his whole portfolio, are clean and light. His identity designs for brands like Instagram , Oculus and Luxe stand on their own (as logos must do) but his case studies, complete with videos, polished photos and before and after GIFs, explain the nuances and decisions behind the finished product. Most notably, Saturday reveals his entire perspective on branding and design in his case studies.

“Redesigning a globally recognised logo is a polarising opportunity: Do you put your personal style on display, or stay true to what the brand’s users are familiar with?” he writes. “I believe the best designs channel a company’s culture, not the designer’s.”

Don’t be afraid to share your opinion and perspective in your case study. While you should avoid sharing opinions like, 'I really hated working with this client', you should, where relevant, express your beliefs about design and how you applied them to your work. 

Tell people what inspires you, what principles guide you, share your feelings about the final result. This adds personality and helps visitors understand who you are as a designer. Read more tips for writing case studies here.

05. Kali & Karina

Kali & Karina tee everything up for their case study readers with a strong introduction, including the project challenge, the project brief (in one sentence), as well as the partnering agency, their client and their role. They then follow through with their approach and the outcome.

On of the most common portfolio mistakes is forgetting to mention your role and give credit to your team. Giving credit doesn’t make your work on the project any less impressive. 

In fact, it shows you can work well and collaborate with a team. It also helps a potential employer or client understand where your main skills lie and how you’ll fit into their team or project.

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7 UX Designer Portfolio Examples: A Beginners Guide

Get inspiration for your entry-level UX portfolio with real world examples.

How do you build a UX design portfolio with no experience? This is a common problem for beginning UX designers looking for their first paying job. Luckily, crafting a stellar portfolio that shows off your skills before you’ve ever had a paying client is possible.

In this article, we’ll walk through seven types of portfolio case studies you can add to your portfolio that doesn’t require you already have a job. We’ll also look at how working UX designers present these types of case studies in their portfolios and offer some takeaways and tips for making your portfolio shine.

To get started, let's look at some general guidelines and best practices for your UX design portfolio.

UX case studies for your entry-level portfolio

Just because you’ve never completed UX design work for a paying client doesn’t mean you have to apply for your first job with an empty portfolio. These seven types of UX case studies make excellent portfolio material for UX designers looking to get their start in the industry.

1. The course assignment

Sometimes, the first project to go into your portfolio will be a UX project you worked on as part of a design course , UX bootcamp , or degree program. These types of projects often simulate real-world situations by giving you the constraints of a brief to work from, as well as teammates to collaborate with.

Including a course assignment or capstone project in your portfolio can demonstrate your ability to:

Work with the constraints and challenges of a brief

Design on a fixed timeline

Collaborate with a team

Incorporate feedback into design iterations

Portfolio example: Phyllis Liu - Autonomous Ridesharing

Courtesy of Phyllis Liu

Phyllis Liu, a Seattle-based UX designer who has worked for Facebook and Shopify, designed an autonomous car ridesharing experience as part of a project for a course at the University of Washington. In her case study, Phyllis is upfront about the constraints of the project, as well as what her team chose to focus on and why. 

Scope of work chart for the Autonomous Ridesharing case study

For example, the team decided to focus their efforts on solving two specific user pain points—namely finding the car and starting the ride without a driver. The case study walks through the project’s user research, product design iterations, validation through user testing, and user journey map before wrapping up with key takeaways and lessons learned.  

Best practices:  

Outline your role in the project and who else contributed. Mention what tasks you worked on.

Be clear about the scope and limitations of your project. What isn’t in the design, and why? Include a section outlining next steps if you were to continue the work.

Choose student projects with realistic constraints and real business value. Acknowledge any unrealistic elements in your case study. 

Upon completion of the Google UX Design Professional Certificate from Coursera, you’ll have three end-to-end projects for your portfolio: a mobile app, a responsive website, and a cross-platform experience. Follow the link to get started for free. 

2. The unsolicited redesign

An unsolicited redesign (sometimes called an uninvited redesign) is an excellent way to show off your skills before you ever land your first job as a UX designer. Pick an app or website that you’re familiar with, and make it better through your design process. 

An unsolicited redesign gives you the structure of an existing product to start with—including an established target user base—while allowing you to put your user experience skills to work. This type of project is great for:

Developing UX skills for new designers

Establishing familiarity with the design process

Building your first portfolio case study

Portfolio example: Shu Jiang - Houzz

Courtesy of Shu Jiang

Shu Jiang, a product designer at Google, includes an excellent example of an unsolicited redesign of the app Houzz in her portfolio. She starts by outlining the challenge she set for herself, then walks through the steps of her design process, with plenty of images to document her work. 

She includes affinity maps, a user persona, task flow chart, and low-fidelity, high-fidelity, animated, and clickable prototypes. She even validates her design decisions by testing her clickable prototype with users.

High-fidelity prototypes from an unsolicited redesign of Houzz

Best practices: 

Clearly indicate that this is an unsolicited redesign and that you have no affiliation with the company.

Work through the entire process, including user research (your friends and family can be your first test subjects). Resist the urge to simply redesign the interface.

Be respectful of the original designers, and try not to insult their work. Remember, they were working with a brief and real-world constraints. 

3. The passion project

Another option for a case study you can complete without any formal UX design experience is to build a concept app or website from scratch. Think about a problem in your own life you wish had a solution, or an app you’d love to have on your phone. Then design it.

This can be more challenging than an unsolicited redesign, as it lacks the inherent structure and constraints of an existing product. But it’s also an opportunity to let your creativity shine. 

Portfolio example: Jeremy Stokes - Cultivate

Courtesy of Jeremy Stokes

Jeremy Stokes is a former Google UX intern and current product designer at Duolingo. His passion project, Cultivate, lays out a clear problem to solve: there’s a stigma around talking about mental health, particularly within the Black community. His solution? A service that uses plant care as a method to empower users to cultivate (and talk about) their own mental health. 

User journey map from the Cultivate case study

Jeremy begins his case study by introducing the service, then takes you behind the scenes to see his design process. His case study includes his research methods, market analysis, detailed user persona, user journey map, and lots of early sketches and website iterations.

Jeremy also highlights his visual design strengths with a full brand guide that highlights the meaning behind his design choices. (including typography, color palettes, logos, and visuals).   

Best practice:  

Focus on solving a real problem. Outline that problem and how you went about solving it in your case study.

You may not have a huge budget (or any budget at all) when working on a passion project. Be sure to mention what you would have done differently if you did. 

Choose a project you care about. It’ll make the time and effort you put into it much more worthwhile.

4. The hackathon

During a hackathon, a group of designers and programmers get together to collaborate on a project. The idea is to have a functioning piece of software by the end of the competitive event, usually constrained to 24 to 72 hours. 

Attending a hackathon allows you to design a real app while collaborating with a real team of other designers, developers, and engineers. A hackathon project in your portfolio can demonstrate that you can:

Think critically and solve problems under pressure

Be a team player

Prioritize important features and tasks

Example portfolio: Yang Qian - Matchy

Courtesy of Yang Qian

Yang Qian, a product designer at Palantir Technologies, presents a case study from a three-day LinkedIn hackathon for design and engineering students. Her team’s challenge was to design an app to help college students better connect with their classmates. The result? Matchy. 

Yang presents the challenge, team, project duration, her role, and the skills she used to get it done in a clear and easy-to-read format. This case study does an excellent job of laying out user research findings. Short videos present user task flows in a way that doesn’t rely on big blocks of text.

Taskflow chart for Matchy case study

After the event, Yang even added an illustration showing how the app would bridge the gap between user experience and business value based on feedback from hackathon judges. 

Polish your hackathon project before presenting it as a case study (and acknowledge that you did so).

Focus on process over finished product. This is your opportunity to show hiring managers how you think under pressure.

Include any positive feedback from the judges, even if your project didn’t ultimately win.

5. The volunteer project

Another way to add real client work to your UX portfolio is to complete one or two small projects pro bono. Perhaps there’s a non-profit organization, school, or small business in your community that could use a website or app redesign. 

Keep in mind that many nonprofits and small businesses may need more than just design. They may also need help with development and implementation (and the resources that go with it). In these cases, consider volunteering as a team or doing pro bono work as part of a nonprofit hackathon.

Portfolio example: Clayton Hopkins - #DullesJustice

Courtesy of Clayton Hopkins

Clayton Hopkins includes a few pro bono case studies in his portfolio in the form of Medium articles. A particularly interesting example is the website design he did for a group of lawyers offering free legal aid to travelers at Dulles Airport in response to the Muslim travel ban in 2017. 

Homepage concepts for #DullesJustice project

In addition to walking through the entire UX design process step by step, Clayton offers insights into how he and his team responded to the urgency of the process, lessons learned along the way, and the results: three days after launch, the number of volunteers had increased from 100 to 1,200.

Best practices:

Choose projects that are fun or interesting to you and that you’d be proud to display in your portfolio.

Avoid signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for unpaid work.

At the end of the project, ask for a letter of recommendation for future jobs.

Looking for a way to volunteer your UX design skills ? Check out these sites for opportunities:

-Get matched with a nonprofit project on Catchafire .

-Join a Code for America brigade to help design new tools for local communities.

-Lend your graphic design skills to a worthy cause with donate:code .

6. The UX design internship

Sometimes the path toward becoming a UX designer starts with an internship. Companies like Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon, and AirBnB are known to hire interns on their UX teams. You’ll find plenty of benefits to working as an intern—even if you’re unpaid—including:

Mentorship from experienced UX designers

Real-world experience

Behind-the-scenes industry insight

Networking opportunities

Projects for your portfolio

If you have to sign an NDA, make your case study password protected or keep it general, focusing on the early ideation.

Tie your project to business results if possible.

Include a positive testimonial from your manager, supervisor, or peers from your time at the company.

7. The interview design challenge

You’ve landed your first interview for a UX designer role. But that doesn’t mean you can’t keep working on your portfolio. Many interviews include a design challenge—an interactive test meant to show how you think. With a bit of iteration and polish after the fact, you can transform these challenges (especially the take-home ones) into fresh material for your portfolio.

Portfolio example: Tammy Taabassum - Wish Design Challenge

Courtesy of Tammy Taabassum

During an interview with the e-commerce platform Wish, Tammy Taabassum completed a four-day design challenge where she was asked to improve the app in some way. Her project got her an internship, as well as a stellar portfolio piece.

Usability testing results chart for a Wish design challenge

Tammy presents her case study as a slidedeck that lays out the challenge and the four steps of her design process. She digs into the insights and challenges uncovered during her user research, points back to other apps where she found inspiration and ideas, redefines the Wish app’s information architecture, and validates her design with usability testing. She also discusses how she would test and iterate with more resources, giving her interviewers a preview of the value she’d bring to the company.

If you received feedback during your challenge, include it in your case study. Show how you incorporated it into your design.

Be sure to take photos of your work when completing a whiteboard challenge during an interview. 

Make clear that this was a design challenge so recruiters are aware of the limitations, such as time constraints.

What should be in a UX design portfolio?

In most cases, your UX design portfolio should have three sections, a Home Page, an About page, and a collection of case studies (this page is often labeled Work).

Your homepage should include a compelling headline introducing who you are and what you do. Sometimes one sentence, an image, and a clear navigational menu is enough. 

Your About page is the place to go into a bit more detail about who you are and how you got started in UX, especially if you’ve switched from another career. 

Early on in your UX journey, you may not have a ton of design work to include in your portfolio. But as you take classes, participate in hackathons, and work through passion projects, your collection of materials will start to grow. 

While there’s no hard and fast rule about the number of projects to include in your portfolio, consider featuring three to five in-depth case studies . These should be your best work, and you can always swap them out for new case studies as you gain experience.

For each, consider including:

Project context, scope, and timeline

Your role and list of collaborators

Problem you set out to solve

Method or hypothesis for solving the problem

Primary and secondary research

User research and findings

User persona and user journey map

Design iterations (sketches, wireframes, low and high-fidelity prototypes)

Final product

Conclusion and metrics of success

Lessons learned

Optional sections

Depending on your amount of experience and personal preferences, you may also choose to include the following pages:

Resume : Give it its own page on the site or link to it.

Side projects or other work: If you have case studies or graphic design work beyond your few highlighted projects, give them a separate section where those who would like to see more can find them.

Contact: This doesn’t have to be its own page, but be sure to give recruiters a way to get in touch after you’ve wowed them with your work.

UX portfolios: Choosing a platform

Having your own hosted website can often be worth the extra expense. But if you’d like to get started building a portfolio for free, these platforms can help you showcase your work:

1. Behance offers a free online portfolio platform for creative work, including UI, UX, and graphic design.

2. Dribbble , another popular UX portfolio platform, lets you share screenshots of your sketches, prototypes, and design concepts.

3. Adobe Portfolio is free with most Adobe Creative Cloud plans and allows you to create a customized site that synchronizes with Behance.

How do I make my portfolio stand out?

Now that we’ve gone through the must-have sections of a UX portfolio and some examples of effective case studies, let’s take a look at some additional tips and best practices to refer to when building your portfolio.

Showcase your process, not just the finished product. Don’t skip steps.

Document your process and include visuals in your case studies. Show your design process in action through photos, sketches, and screenshots.

Use emotive language to show empathy. This is particularly important when giving background on the problem you set out to solve.

Tie great UX back to business value (how does solving a user problem impact the business in a positive way?).

Highlight your specialty. If you aim to be a generalist, choose projects where you worked on all elements of the design process. If you’re more interested in user research or user interface (UI) design , prioritize these elements in your case studies.

Make sure your portfolio provides a good UX. Your portfolio website is itself a demonstration of your skills.

Try to include at least one live case study. Some work may need to be password-protected due to NDAs, but you want to give recruiters something to look at without having to email you for a password first.

How to enhance your UX designer portfolio

If you still need projects to fill the gaps in your portfolio, you have plenty of options. The list below outlines a few 100-percent online, self-paced programs that you can use to expand your UX design skills and bulk up your portfolio.

Google UX Design Professional Certificate : In addition to earning a Professional Certificate from an industry leader, this online course can be used to add three different end-to-end projects to your portfolio:

A mobile application

A responsive website

A cross-platform experience

Meta Front-end Developer Professional Certificate : Throughout this program, you'll manage a project in GitHub using version control, Git repositories, and the Linux terminal. You'll also have the opportunity to participate in a Capstone project to build the front end of a web application. By the end, you'll have completed nine projects in a lab environment or web application and earned a Professional Certificate from Meta.

Start building your UX design portfolio today

If you’re ready to take the next step toward a career in user experience design, consider enrolling in the Google UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera. You'll learn the skills you need for an entry-level role in less than six months, no degree or prior experience required. The first week is free.

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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20 of the Best UX Portfolio Examples

So, you’re looking for some UX portfolio inspiration?

Making sure you’ve got an impressive portfolio to your name is important for both fresh-faced UX designers and seasoned industry veterans.

In this article, we’ll try to inspire you with awesome UX portfolio examples and UX design portfolio best practices.

The 20 Best UX Portfolios

Without further ado, here are our picks of the best UX design portfolio examples.

1. Gloria Lo nails the high-impact introduction

Who is gloria lo.

Gloria Lo is a self-taught product designer based in Sydney, Australia. In her own words, she is passionate about improving the lives of others through design and is constantly looking to learn new things every day.

What makes Gloria’s UX design portfolio so great?

One of the first things your UX portfolio should do is introduce you as a designer. Employers and potential clients want to know who you are and what you’re all about—and they should be able to find this out within seconds of landing on your portfolio website.

Gloria has nailed her designer introduction with a three-tiered approach. First, she treats us to a bold, eye-catching headline that describes her in terms of her favorite activities.

In just four simple verbs, we know that Gloria is a creative, multi-talented soul with quite a few hobbies in her repertoire. Oh, and these verbs “light up” in different colors when you hover over them—a nice additional dash of personality!

After such an enticing headline, we’re inevitably curious to know more about Gloria—and sure enough, her portfolio delivers. Directly beneath that unmissable heading, Gloria tells us exactly what she does and what she’s passionate about in just two sentences.

Gloria has mastered the delicate art of brevity while still managing to convey the most important information—not an easy feat!

By now, Gloria has well and truly piqued the viewer’s interest. Luckily, her portfolio also features a comprehensive “About” page, complete with a video, a section detailing her values (with the help of emojis), a very thorough testimonial from a former employer, and links to her music and artwork.

What can we learn from Gloria Lo?

When it comes to your own UX design portfolio, make like Gloria and be sure to include a meaningful introduction. Keep it compact yet high-impact on the home page, and then provide more detail in a dedicated “About” section.

Besides crafting a gripping “about me” statement, try to inject a bit of personality into the visual design, too—just like Gloria’s colorful hover effect.

Key takeaway

The viewer should know exactly who you are and what you do within seconds of landing on your UX design portfolio. Craft a compelling headline that provides all the most important information at a glance.

View Gloria Lo’s full portfolio website

2. Moritz Oesterlau masters the art of storytelling through case studies

Who is moritz oesterlau.

Moritz Oesterlau is a multi-skilled product/UX designer based in Germany. He also dabbles in interface design and frontend development.

Moritz studied UX design with CareerFoundry and is now part of the Global Goals Curriculum 2030 team, helping to shape a democratic, just, and sustainable society through the power of education.

What makes Moritz’s UX design portfolio so great?

Moritz’s portfolio really gets to the heart of what UX design is all about: going through a process to solve a user problem. Moritz doesn’t just show the finished product; he shares, in detail, all the methods and processes that got him there.

Each project is presented as a case study, which immediately tells us we’re in for a lot more than just eye candy.

Click on any one of these case studies and you almost feel like you’re in the room with Moritz himself—a fly-on-the-wall as he works through his UX design process.

Take the Approach to Digitization in Education case study , for example. Moritz leaves no stone unturned, documenting the project from start to finish.

He takes us on a logical journey, putting the design challenge into context before going through competitor analysis , interviews and surveys, building empathy and creating user personas , defining the information architecture , wireframing , prototyping, and usability testing .

For each step, he explains what he did, why he did it, and what he learned as a result.

What can we learn from Moritz Oesterlau?

When showcasing your UX design work, follow Moritz’s example and place your process front and center. You’ll notice that Moritz doesn’t show the finished product until the very end of each case study, and that’s because he’s telling a logical story.

With each case study, start from the beginning and guide the viewer through the main steps that led you to the final solution. It’s okay to include screenshots of a beautiful end product, but make sure you’ve documented your process in detail first.

Showcase your process, not just the finished product. Write about the methods you used, what you learned along the way, the challenges you came up against, and how you solved certain problems. Each case study should tell a complete, logical story.

View Moritz Oesterlau’s full portfolio website

3. Elizabeth Lin reigns supreme with visual storytelling

Who is elizabeth lin.

Elizabeth Lin is a San Francisco-based product designer and self-proclaimed fashion, teaching, and classical saxophone enthusiast.

What makes Elizabeth’s UX design portfolio so great?

Elizabeth Lin’s portfolio provides another excellent example of storytelling. Just like Moritz, she presents her design work in the form of case studies, documenting her process from start to finish.

What really stands out in Elizabeth’s portfolio, though, is her use of visuals to support the narrative she’s weaving.

Each point in her case study is illustrated with some kind of visual element—be it a virtual wall of Post-it notes, a survey form that was sent to research participants, or early-stage prototypes.

Another effective storytelling technique that Elizabeth uses is to include little bitesized notes and reflections down the right-hand side.

Set in a different font and color to the main body text, these snippets catch your eye as you scroll.

They provide further, more personal insights into the project—such as “It was cool seeing how differently teachers would use this dashboard” or “We didn’t move forward with this exploration because we wanted to validate the base solution first.”

Supporting your case studies with visual artifacts really brings the project to life. Elizabeth’s portfolio illustrates perfectly how visual and textual storytelling should work together to demonstrate your UX design process.

What can we learn from Elizabeth Lin?

The aim of your UX portfolio is to both show and tell. Just like Elizabeth, support each case study with meaningful visuals—that is, real artifacts from your project, not just illustrations.

Every time you work on a new design project, document your process: take screenshots of user research surveys you send out, snap photos of your wall covered in sticky notes after a heavy brainstorming session, and keep hold of your wireframes as they progress from low to high fidelity.

When it comes to adding a new case study to your portfolio, these artifacts will help you tell a logical story.

Don’t just tell the story of each project; bring it to life with visual artifacts. For each step you go through in your case study, include a photo or screenshot of how it looked in action.

View Elizabeth Lin’s full portfolio website

4. Olivia Truong showcases her approach to problem-solving

Who is olivia truong.

Olivia Truong is a product designer based in Boston, Massachusetts. In her own words, Olivia likes to go out into the world and capture its beauty and weirdness.

What makes Olivia’s UX design portfolio so great?

Above all else, UX designers are problem-solvers. Your UX design portfolio should therefore demonstrate how you identify and tackle a variety of user problems. Olivia’s portfolio does a great job of this, as you’ll see in her Routr case study .

Olivia kicks off her case study by framing the problem in a personal, relatable way. She doesn’t just talk about the “user” problem—she frames it as “our” problem, inviting the reader to step into the user’s shoes, just as she has done.

Next, Olivia explains, in detail, how she set about trying to solve this problem—in a section aptly named “There Must Be Something Out There”. We learn how she scoured the internet and App Store for a solution, only to find that none of the existing solutions fit the bill.

In the section that follows, “Taking The Dive”, Olivia shares the next steps in her problem-solving journey: brainstorming the elements of a successful date.

After thoroughly framing the problem and describing her approach to solving it, Olivia moves onto “The Making Of Routr.” Notice how, even when talking about her solution, Olivia consistently refers back to the original user problem.

Olivia’s portfolio portrays her as a thoughtful problem-solver—granting her huge bonus points in the eyes of any recruiter or potential client. This focus on problem-solving also conveys another essential UX trait: empathy for the user.

When reading Olivia’s case study, you don’t get the feeling that she’s just going through the motions; she’s genuinely engaged in the problem and how she can solve it for the user. That’s the sign of a passionate UX designer!

What can we learn from Olivia Truong?

UX designers are problem-solvers, so make sure your portfolio reflects that. There are two key lessons we can learn from Olivia’s portfolio: first, start each case study by framing the problem in detail, and second, frame the problem in a way that conveys empathy.

Above all, think about the language you use. Don’t just state the problem; relate to it and put some emotion behind it! Olivia describes how planning dates was a “headache” because “coming up with ideas was not the easiest thing to do in our busy lives.”

This is much more personal and empathy-driven than if she’d said “Users struggle to come up with date ideas because they’re so busy.” Last but not least, refer back to the original problem throughout—even when you progress to the solution.

Your UX design portfolio should demonstrate your approach to problem-solving. Kick off each case study by framing the problem in detail, using emotive language to convey empathy. Refer back to the problem throughout.

View Olivia Truong’s full portfolio website

5. Priyanka Gupta is the queen of the unsolicited redesign

Who is priyanka gupta.

Priyanka Gupta is a product designer and tech enthusiast based in San Francisco. Aside from creating awesome user experiences, Priyanka is also pretty active on Medium .

What makes Priyanka’s UX design portfolio so great?

Early on in your UX career, you might struggle to fill your portfolio with real projects. As your career progresses, you might look for ways to make your portfolio stand out. So what can you do?

Cue the unsolicited redesign à la Priyanka Gupta.

When Priyanka runs into bad UX, she can’t help but do something about it. Where most of us might just abandon ship and find an alternative product, Priyanka goes above and beyond: she redesigns the entire experience!

So, in addition to real client projects, Priyanka’s UX portfolio also showcases some rather impressive unsolicited redesigns.

One can’t help but be impressed by Priyanka’s initiative and drive. She’s gone out of her way to redesign an entire digital experience, just because she’s passionate about good UX—how cool is that?!

What’s also interesting is how Priyanka chooses to showcase these redesigns. She could just stick to the standard case study format, but as we know, she’s the kind of designer who likes to go above and beyond.

Click on one of her unsolicited portfolio pieces and you’ll be taken to a full-on, published blog post. Nice!

Despite the fact that these unsolicited redesigns are pure “passion projects”, Priyanka lends them the credibility they deserve by documenting her process in detail.

In her redesign of the Sephora iOS app , she starts by framing the problem: “Despite using the app religiously, I had trouble navigating through it. After observing that other people also experienced issues with the app, I pursued this redesign as an opportunity to improve the experience in any way I could.”

What follows is a detailed breakdown of every step she took to redesign the app, from brand analysis, user research, and affinity mapping , right through to persona creation, prototyping, and implementation—not forgetting those all-important visual artifacts that are absolutely crucial to UX storytelling!

What can we learn from Priyanka Gupta?

Priyanka is an experienced UX designer who presumably has plenty of real projects for her portfolio. This doesn’t stop her from conducting unsolicited redesigns when she comes across intolerably bad UX—as she puts it, it’s like an itch she just needs to scratch!

If you’re a new UX designer trying to build up your portfolio, take a leaf out of Priyanka’s book and complete some unsolicited redesigns of your own. This is a great way to demonstrate initiative and show that you’re a proactive designer who is willing to go the extra mile.

Just as Priyanka does, be transparent about the fact that these are unsolicited projects—a simple disclaimer is all you need.

Another valuable takeaway from Priyanka’s portfolio is the power of blogging. Priyanka doesn’t just limit herself to her portfolio website; she also shares her case studies and tips via Medium (where she’s accrued over a thousand followers!).

There are many different ways to share your process, so don’t be afraid to try a multichannel approach.

Unsolicited redesigns are an excellent way to build up your UX portfolio and demonstrate your initiative as a designer. As always, frame the problem, document your process, and tell a good story—and don’t forget to include a disclaimer.

View Priyanka Gupta’s full portfolio website

6. Lola Jiang delivers measurable outcomes and metrics

Who is lola jiang.

Lola Jiang is a California-based UX designer currently working at Google. Lola’s impressive resume includes having worked at YouTube as an interaction designer.

What makes Lola’s UX design portfolio so great?

One of the biggest challenges you’ll face as a UX designer is measuring and demonstrating the impact of your work. You know you’ve improved the user experience, but how do you substantiate that?

Look no further than Lola Jiang’s portfolio. Lola does an extremely important (yet scarce) thing: she puts the measurable impact of her UX design in the context of business needs.

Take her AI Training Platform case study, for example. Following a brief introduction to the project (literally one sentence), Lola offers the project’s outcomes: “The new design reduced task times by 68% and improved users’ subjective satisfaction by 139%.”

It’s immediate and impactful. Lola then takes us through the flow of the project, outlining the scale and scope of the work. She details the challenges, different iterations, and design, and clearly demonstrates the motivations behind decisions.

Lola rounds off her case study with a post-relaunch analysis, using concrete data to validate the final redesign: “With the original design, the set of tasks took 19 minutes. With the new design, the set of tasks took 6 minutes. Nearly 68%. Users’ subjective satisfaction with the new design (4.3/5) was 139% higher than the original design (1.8/5).”

What can we learn from Lola Jiang?

Lola does a great job of showing how she works in a business setting. This is crucial if you want to practice UX for a living, but it’s a trick that many designers tend to miss. While it’s true that you’re there to advocate for the user, it’s also important to recognize that companies have their own goals to meet—and you need to show how UX contributes to that.

If, like Lola, you can demonstrate how your work brings value, you’ll set yourself up for some serious bonus points. If you have data related to the project, this will be easy—but what if there aren’t any concrete metrics to showcase?

Even without data, you can frame your work in a business context. Set a business or product goal at the start of the case study. What do you hope your work will achieve? This is separate from the user goal, but the two should go hand in hand.

For example, creating a more pleasant app experience for the user should help to boost customer retention.

Likewise, establish a few success metrics before you begin. How will you measure the impact of your work? What tell-tale signs will you look out for after you’ve launched or relaunched the product? The best UX designers are those who can advocate for the user while meeting the needs of the business, so try to convey this throughout your portfolio.

Use your portfolio to demonstrate how you add value to the business. Set business goals and success metrics for each case study, and, where possible, include data and tangible outcomes.

View Lola Jiang’s full portfolio website.

7. Daniel Autry features “just the right amount” of portfolio projects

Who is daniel autry.

Daniel Autry is a designer, developer, and behavioural researcher based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is fascinated by the social product space and is currently researching the intersection between technology and mental illness.

What makes Daniel’s UX design portfolio so great?

Daniel Autry’s portfolio features some remarkable work in the mental health space, but that’s not the only reason he’s made it onto this list. Daniel’s portfolio also helps to answer that all-too-common conundrum: What’s the “right” amount of projects to showcase in your UX design portfolio?

Before we go any further, let’s be clear on one thing: There’s no “magic number” when it comes to portfolio projects. Some people will tell you five, others will say three—you might even hear that one is enough!

Daniel has opted to showcase four projects in his UX portfolio, and while we’re not saying that he’s found THE magic number, it is a magic number of sorts.

In other words, Daniel has found the number that works for him: He features just enough projects to showcase his range as a designer while still keeping it limited enough so as not to overwhelm the user—smart UX design in action!

In the space of just four featured case studies, we see that Daniel is a versatile designer who has worked on a variety of projects across a range of sectors—from mental health to financial trading to e-learning. So, it’s not just about how many projects you showcase; it’s just as important to pick a good variety.

Besides his four featured projects, Daniel’s portfolio also includes a section dedicated to “Other Works”. Here, he links to articles he’s written on Medium, additional projects he’s worked on, as well as upcoming endeavors.

This is a great way to divide your portfolio, especially if you’re struggling to decide which of your best work should feature!

What can we learn from Daniel Autry?

Daniel’s portfolio teaches us an important lesson about the “right” number of portfolio projects: There isn’t one! Every UX designer is unique, and your portfolio should reflect that.

Don’t get too hung up on whether you should include three projects or five; focus instead on selecting a handful of projects that best showcase who you are as a designer.

If you want to brand yourself as a versatile, adaptable designer, feature as diverse a variety of projects as possible.

If you see yourself as a specialist in a certain industry, highlight the projects that demonstrate this. At the same time, don’t overwhelm the viewer: a hiring manager looking through your portfolio probably won’t browse through ten UX case studies, so choose wisely!

There is no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to how many projects you should feature in your portfolio. Choose a good enough variety to showcase your skillset, while keeping it minimal enough so as not to overwhelm the user. If you’ve got lots more work you want to showcase, add a separate section.

View Daniel Autry’s full portfolio website

8. Vera Chen highlights the importance of context

Who is vera chen.

Vera Chen is a product designer and former Facebook intern. She has a Master’s degree in Human-Centered Design and Engineering, and has also dabbled in singing and acting.

What makes Vera’s UX design portfolio so great?

Not only is Vera’s portfolio a beautiful thing to behold (just look at those illustrations!); it also highlights the importance of context when presenting your UX work.

Vera doesn’t just outline the problem statement for each case study—she steeps it in a solid back story, describing the events that led her there. She also clearly explains her role on each project, who she worked with, and what design and prototyping tools and methods they used.

Just by including these few extra details, Vera paints a clear picture of what the project entailed and how she contributed. Another excellent example of UX storytelling!

Let’s take Vera’s Wedding Library case study , for example. See how she dedicates two whole sections to setting the scene? First, there’s the project background which lays out the scope of the project. Then there’s the context section, a detailed story about newlyweds Murphy and Diana and the frustrations they faced when planning two weddings.

Vera doesn’t just tell us what the problem is. She shows us exactly how it came to light, and in what capacity she was employed to help solve it. By the time we scroll down to Vera’s process, it’s easy to see where each step fits into the overall project.

It’s a bit like reading a novel: you need a little bit of background before you can start relating to the characters and the plot.

What can we learn from Vera Chen?

There are two very simple yet effective takeaways to be had from Vera’s portfolio. First and foremost, provide plenty of background context—this works wonders when telling the story of each case study.

Vera doesn’t start with the problem statement; she sets the scene, describing the people, events, and circumstances that surround and lead up to this particular design challenge. Aim to precede your problem statement with a small paragraph dedicated to “setting the scene”.

Secondly, state your role on each project. What were you commissioned to do? Where did you fit into the overall team? At the same time, listing your teammates is a nice touch; UX design is a highly collaborative field, so it’s important to demonstrate individual value while acknowledging that the end result was a team effort!

For each case study in your UX portfolio, provide as much context as you can. Set the scene with a brief backstory before launching into your problem statement. This includes stating your role on the project and, if necessary, who you worked with.

View Vera Chen’s full portfolio website

9. Zara Drei bedazzles with awesome UX and UI

Who is zara drei.

Zara Drei is a London-based UX designer. When she’s not solving problems with beautiful, user-centric web products, you can find her playing around with electronics, making video loops, building ceramic and metal sculptures, or producing electronic music.

What makes Zara’s UX design portfolio so great?

We’ve talked a lot about the importance of showcasing your UX design process. Now it’s time to contemplate the power of beautiful UI! This brings us to Zara Drei’s portfolio—the epitome of digital elegance.

Zara specializes in creating digital products and experiences for luxury, fashion, and beauty brands, and this is reflected in every detail of her portfolio.

In fact, scrolling through Zara’s portfolio is like wandering through the beauty department of a high-end store, or flipping through the pages of a glossy magazine—and that’s no accident.

She has given as much thought to her color palette , typography , and imagery as she has to writing up her case studies and sharing her process. The result? A flawless portfolio that truly makes its mark.

What can we learn from Zara Drei?

Your UX design portfolio is not just a website—it’s part of your personal brand. Like your case studies, the overall aesthetic of your portfolio should tell a story about who you are as a designer. Consider how Zara uses color and imagery to evoke a sense of luxury throughout her portfolio; how can you create a similar effect?

Spend some time figuring out your personal brand. Are you fun and quirky? Artsy and edgy? Corporate and serious? Perhaps you’re all about eco-friendly design.

Once you’ve got a theme in mind, you can start to think about the kinds of colors and imagery that will help to convey this. Just because you’re a UX designer doesn’t mean you can neglect the visual design of your portfolio.

Your portfolio should embody your personal brand, so treat it like any other UX project and give it the high-shine finish it deserves!

Your portfolio website should reflect your personal brand, and visual design plays a crucial role. The best portfolios offer the full package—detailed case studies wrapped in stunning UI design and flawless UX—so aim to tick all the boxes!

View Zara Drei’s full portfolio website

10. Minimalism from Victoria Kazakova

Who is victoria kazakova.

Victoria Kazakova is a Polish UX designer, web developer, and photographer. 

What makes Victoria’s UX design portfolio so great?

In the enormous and sometimes confusing online world we trawl through daily, Victoria Kazakova’s UX portfolio wins the prize for clarity and ease of understanding. 

Throughout Victoria’s portfolio, she sticks to a minimalist design palette and clear signage, a simplicity that makes for a delightfully smooth read. 

Better still, words that spring up on command stroll through the portfolio, leading the reader from section to section. 

Charts and graphics displaying her skills and experience are so simple they appear iconic. There’s no chance the reader could feel lost or confused.  

What can we learn from Victoria Kazakova?

When it comes to graphic design, sometimes simplicity is best. The last thing you want to happen when someone reads over your portfolio is for them to feel overwhelmed with data.

Victoria’s portfolio is a great example of how responsive screens can ease the user’s journey through pages of information. 

Don’t be tempted to overload. Stick to two classy fonts and an inoffensive colorway. These simple building blocks can lead the user’s eye as they navigate your work. 

View Victoria Kazakova’s full UX portfolio

11. Yu-Hsuan offers zero-gravity UX

Who is yu-hsuan.

Yu-Hsuan is a UX designer, currently working for Google as an interaction designer. 

What makes Yu-Hsuan’s UX design portfolio so great?

Yu-Hsuan’s impressive role at Google means that many of her current projects are “locked” due to non-disclosure agreements. This is a common problem in the UX design community and a hurdle many designers face when putting together their portfolios. 

Yu-Hsuan’s deft solution is to focus on the illustrative side of her UX portfolio, which showcases her passion and side projects as a graphic designer and game designer. 

She also uses her illustrations to depict the otherwise locked aspects of the projects she’s describing. This gives a lovely cohesion with the rest of the content in her portfolio and reduces the jarring effect locked projects can sometimes have. 

The floating designer illustration that seems to hover over the portfolio is very cool and points at a sense of fun and creativity necessary to succeed in illustration and gaming. 

What can we learn from Yu-Hsuan?

Through her illustrations, Yu-Hsuan has subtly displayed her UX skills in her portfolio itself. 

This visual approach means the separate parts of the portfolio hang together perfectly, even when some of the projects are locked off. 

Another tip from Yu-Hsuan is to be approachable in your portfolio. Dropping in the line “Please contact me if you want to go through the case study” gives a real sense of openness, collaboration, and sharing. 

If you can’t show direct evidence of a project, don’t hesitate to get creative. A strong visual style not only shows off your design chops but helps a large portfolio hang together nicely. Also, be approachable!

View Yu-Hsuan’s full UX portfolio

12. A holistic introduction to Cristina Gafitescu

Who is cristina gafitescu.

Romania-based Cristina Gafitescu is a junior UX designer with a playful approach to visual design.

What makes Cristina Gafitescu’s UX design portfolio so great?

Cristina’s UX portfolio makes a great first impression as it tells her story in an interesting-to-follow, visually engaging way. 

Her playful page layouts and graphics show Cristina’s panache as an illustrator and designer. They also provide a great backdrop as she offers a holistic introduction to herself. 

Through a post-it note, almost diaristic approach, the reader really gets a feel for what kind of person Cristina is, her education and experience, and what attracted her to UX in the first place. 

That’s not to say this portfolio is totally informal. Cristina also does a great job of showing her processes, identifying problems (with a focus on UX research), solutions, and testing. 

When the temptation may be to opt for oblique, abstract graphics that display your design chops in the coolest terms, save a thought for a more intimate approach. 

Cristina’s portfolio is emotionally honest, charming, and informative. The effect on recruiters—especially those suffering from portfolio fatigue—is likely persuasive. 

View Cristina Gafitescu’s full UX portfolio

13. The spatial awareness of Rucha Moghe

Who is rucha moghe.

Rucha Moghe is a UX designer with a background in architecture based in India. 

What makes Rucha Moghe’s UX design portfolio so great?

From start to finish, Rucha’s UX portfolio ticks all the right boxes. It’s visually strong and easy to digest. Her user journey map is smart and in context, and the user flows, wireframes, and usability study are all useful.    

Tehni: A Plant App is an especially great case study and easy to follow. On the whole, Rucha’s portfolio is incredibly strong on user personas. 

As Rucha suggests, her background as an architect provides her portfolio with a great sense of user-centered design principles, spatial awareness, and problem-solving skills transferable to digital spaces. 

No space feels wasted, nothing is jumbled, and the reader never feels lost or confused. This is architectural elegance in portfolio form. 

Reinventing the wheel in your portfolio isn’t necessarily a good idea. Rucha’s portfolio nails the basics: it’s logical with an easy-to-follow narrative that shows how user problems were solved. It’s bold and eye-catching and features great user personas.

View Rucha Moghe’s full UX portfolio  

14. Nguyen Duc Thang’s deep case studies

Who is nguyen duc thang.

Nguyen Duc Thang is a UX designer based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Although just starting in his career, Nguyen Duc Thang knows how to put together a really strong portfolio. 

What makes Nguyen Duc Thang’s UX design portfolio so great?

Much like Rucha Moghe, Nguyen Duc Thang’s UX portfolio gets the basics right despite the difference in experience. 

Nguyen Duc Thang’s branding is particularly strong, with eye-catching graphics consistently holding the content together throughout the document. 

After introducing himself, Nguyen Duc Thang covers his skills and qualifications before launching into extensive case studies. No stone is left unturned in these exhaustive examples, which detail wireframing, prototyping, testing, user personas, visual design, and information architecture. Bravo! 

Don’t scrimp on your case studies. Tell the world how you nailed that project, from top to tail.

View Nguyen Duc Thang’s full UX portfolio

15. Precocious design from Gilbert Christian

Who is gilbert christian.

Gilbert Christian is an Indonesian UX design student in the early stages of his career. As Gilbert mentions in his portfolio, he’s open to all manner of part-time, voluntary work, or UX internship programs. 

What makes Gilbert Christian’s UX design portfolio so great?

Despite his relative inexperience, Gilbert’s UX portfolio is extremely easy on the eye, with strong data visualization and imagery leading you from one page to the next.   

Gilbert’s case studies show a maturity beyond his experience, with thorough documentation giving us insight into his work processes. 

Gilbert’s portfolio is stunning and applies the same key UX design principles present in his work. 

If in doubt, build a logical narrative showing how a problem was understood, defined, and solved. 

View Gilbert Christian’s full UX portfolio

16. Valentina Gigli’s bold branding

Who is valentina gigli.

Valentina Gigli is a junior UX designer based in Argentina.  

What makes Valentina Gigli’s UX design portfolio so great?

Aside from the bold color scheme and font choice, Valentina keeps things simple with her portfolio. 

After introducing herself, Valentina discusses her “aptitude palette”, before moving on to her design examples. 

Whether you’re a fan of purplish magenta or not, the bold titles and lurid colors certainly make for clear signposting and remain in the mind’s eye for some time after looking away, a key sign of successful branding. 

When it comes to color schemes and fonts, it’s tempting to play it safe. Taking some risks may mean your portfolio pops out from the crowd.

View Valentina Gigli’s full UX portfolio

17. Aleyna Aykanat raises a smile

Who is aleyna aykanat.

Akeyna Aykanat is a Turkish UX designer with skills in public speaking, 3D product modeling, and graphic design.

What makes Aleyna Aykanat’s UX design portfolio so great?

Aleyna’s work is in monochrome black and white, with grainy charcoal textures offering depth to each slide. 

The result feels mature and assured—and Aleyna has the content to match it, too. 

After what feels like a serious offering, Aleyna offers something of a UX visual joke at the end of her portfolio, including a fake loading page, before bidding us farewell. 

Overall, it leaves one with the impression of Aleyna as a fun-loving lateral thinker—just the kind of person we’d like on our team. 

Many UX design portfolios are made using guidelines shared amongst tens of thousands of junior designers at bootcamps and other learning establishments. 

These cookie-cutter portfolios can feel a little soulless and may result in recruiters developing a kind of portfolio fatigue. 

As Aleyna shows so elegantly, including a curveball element—in this case, the joke towards the end of her portfolio—shows the portfolio has been assembled with care and craft, not painted by numbers.  

View Aleyna Aykanat’s full UX portfolio

18. Sharon Kravanja’s scrapbook stylings

Who is sharon kravanja.

Sharon Kravanja is a Parisian UX designer at the beginning of her career.

What makes Sharon Kravanja’s UX design portfolio so great?

From the outset, Sharon makes no bones about her very junior status as a UX designer. This is reflected in her opening statement and the primitive doodles that annotate and decorate each portfolio page. 

Despite this seemingly youthful approach, Sharon’s visual scrapbook style demonstrates impressive self-branding. Scribbles and sweeps bring cohesion to all the moving parts of the portfolio while playfully communicating Sharon’s self-awareness as an inexperienced but sincere and brave designer. 

Be yourself. A recruiter will sooner remember Sharon’s somewhat youthfully exuberant portfolio over safer designs.

View Sharon Kravanja ’ s full UX portfolio

19. Sophisticated graphics from Anna Hlushko

Who is anna hlushko.

Anna Hlushko is a Ukrainian UX designer with a self-professed focus on minimalism. 

What makes Anna Hlushko’s UX design portfolio so great?

Anna Hlushko’s portfolio speaks of a detail-oriented UX designer with serious design chops. 

Modernist typography and dark, grainy hues glue the elements of this portfolio in place. Anna’s graphic design skills are at the higher end of the spectrum, and these pages wouldn’t look out of place in a MoMA brochure.

Beyond the slick exterior, Anna also touches on her approach to tackling stages of work, including research, and details some case studies. 

Play to your strengths. If visual design is your thing, make sure your portfolio pops. This may be the one chance you have to show off your chops. 

View Anna Hlushko’s full UX portfolio

20. Thorough research by Hoàng Kỳ Phong

Who is hoàng kỳ phong.

Hoàng Kỳ Phong is a Hanoi-based UX designer passionate about art and design. 

What makes Hoàng Kỳ Phong’s UX design portfolio so great?

With black and white images projected onto a backdrop of cartridge paper, Hoàng Kỳ Phong’s portfolio has a classic feel. 

Structurally, it is a masterclass in logical layout and digestible design. Extra marks are awarded for detailed market research and survey information. 

Consider the user at every step by demonstrating the process and results.

View Hoàng Kỳ Phong’s UX portfolio

Why do you need a UX design portfolio?

When creating an impressive UX portfolio, it’s important to understand exactly what your portfolio should achieve. What information should your portfolio present? What do you want people to learn about you and your work when they land on your portfolio?

Your UX design portfolio is not just a virtual gallery of all your most beautiful work. It’s a carefully crafted story that offers a behind-the-scenes look at your methods and processes.

How do you tackle different UX design challenges? What’s your approach to solving problems? Are you user-centric?

It should introduce you as a designer and give the viewer an understanding of your work. And, of course, all of these insights should come gift-wrapped in a visually engaging, user-friendly package.

How to build an amazing UX portfolio

Since a portfolio is all about showcasing your work as a designer, it’s obvious that you need to get some experience so that you have work to spotlight in the first place.

But what if you don’t have any industry experience (yet)? Not to worry.

It’s entirely possibly to build a strong portfolio, break into the industry, and succeed without previous UX design experience . One great place to start is by taking a free UX design short course to make sure you’re cut out for this area of the design field.

Next, you can then to enroll in a UX design certification program —preferably one that provides personalized UX mentorship and portfolio reviews.

To see a live portfolio review with a seasoned UX designer, check out this video:

Beyond this, you want to make sure that your portfolio meets these criteria:

• Includes a memorable introduction
• Consists of just the right number of high-quality UX case studies
• Demonstrates reflexivity —shows your ability to reflect and learn
• User-friendly format (practice what you preach)
• Excellent UI design —shows you know what a good, polished final product looks like

To learn more about these five criteria (and how to meet them), read more in this guide: Five Golden Rules to Build a Job-Winning UX Design Portfolio .

Where else can you look for UX design portfolio inspiration?

That just about concludes our selection of awesome UX design portfolios from around the web. We hope this list has given you a feel for some of the most important UX design portfolio best practices and left you feeling suitably inspired.

For more portfolio inspiration, check out websites like Bestfolios , Behance , and Dribbble . For further tips and advice on building your own UX design portfolio, check out these articles:

• 9 Awesome Portfolios From UX Design Bootcamp Graduates
• How I Designed And Built My UX Design Portfolio From Scratch
• 9 Free Websites for Building You UX/UI Portfolio

And finally, if you’re a UX designer looking to specialize, we’ve also written guides to build portfolios for UX writing and UX research . If you spot any further examples of great portfolios while navigating the web, do let us know so we can add them to the list.

Want to keep exploring UX design? Here are a few other articles you might like:

• How to become a UX designer in under one year
• Do you need a degree to become a UX designer?
• 7 best practices to help keep your UX skillset in shape

And if you’re on the hunt for even more UX design inspiration, here are 15 quotes from design masters .

Frequently asked portfolio (FAQ) about UX portfolios

What should be in a UX portfolio?

A UX portfolio should showcase your expertise, understanding, and passion for UX. A portfolio can include elements like case studies, design, personal projects, examples of your process, and should be presented in a visually pleasing way.

How do I start a UX portfolio for beginners?

A beginner’s UX portfolio is a vital tool for entering the industry. Highlight your passion and motivation for the UX design, include your personal approaches, and if you have minimal case studies to present, include personal projects. 

How do I build my UX portfolio?

With the amount of free templates available online, building your UX portfolio has never been easier. However, it’s important to not limit yourself to a standardized approach and showcase your own unique talent. 

First and foremost, choose your projects and case studies carefully. Then present them in a logical narrative that tells a story about your design process. In your descriptions, highlight your motivations and thought processes.

Across your portfolio, focus on showcasing your design skills and problem-solving abilities, and keep your portfolio up-to-date with your latest work. Be sure to customize your portfolio for the audience.

The Best UX Designer Portfolios: Inspiring Case Studies and Examples

What makes a winning UX portfolio? More than a showcase of skills, a UX designer’s portfolio is an opportunity for them to create an enjoyable user experience as well as demonstrate their UX mastery.

By Miklos Philips

Miklos is a UX designer, product design strategist, author, and speaker with more than 18 years of experience in the design field.

Previously At

A considerable amount of time and effort goes into building a stellar UX designer portfolio. If the right type of content is chosen with great UX, it will be a worthy investment.

What makes a winning UX design portfolio? As outlined in a previous article “ UX Portfolio Tips and Best Practices ,” telling a compelling story is key. Recruiters and others who may be evaluating your work are busy—you only have a few minutes to engage them before they decide whether or not you made the cut.

A long list of relevant skills, the tools you use, and how many years of experience you have is of no real benefit to your visitors, or to your presentation. The best UX portfolios outline the user-centered design process —how the problem was solved.

Be explicit about your skills , the process you use, and the kinds of projects you specialize in, but be mindful of presenting too much information. User experience portfolios should not be a retrospective of ALL past work. Choose projects that are specific, recent, and outstanding, and present them as a design process.

Hiring/UX managers want to see: user research, research reports, sketches, wireframes, user flows, wireflows, user stories, customer journey maps, prototypes, user-testing, and the final product. If possible, it’s also good to include analytics tools used to see how successful the product was.

Here are a few other points to remember:

• Beware of technical jargon and splashy imagery—simple project descriptions and visuals are more effective.
• Wireframes are not pretty, so emphasize your structural ability. Share the process!
• Write clear project summaries. Make them easy to read—not too much text!
• If there are confidentiality issues blot out company logos and/or blur areas of the images. There is no bigger turn-off than encountering a page that is password protected. That is bad UX.
• Include a few stakeholder testimonials.
• Conclude each project case study with what you learned.

If you’re a UX designer, your UX portfolio should demonstrate exceptional UX.

A UX designer’s portfolio is more than a showcase of skills, it’s an opportunity to create an enjoyable user experience so designers need to prioritize good work, tell an engaging story, and demonstrate their UX mastery! Let’s take a look at some exceptional UX design portfolio examples.

Ten Inspiring UX Designer Portfolios

Karolis kosas.

Karolis grew up in Vilnius, Lithuania and currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is a product designer at Stripe . Aside from many other interesting, self-initiated projects, he is the co-founder of Anchovy , a free, extremely simple iPhone app that turns your words into beautiful color gradients that can be sent as real paper postcards to anywhere in the world or shared with friends on Facebook Messenger.

What’s Great About This UX Designer Portfolio

This is a nice-looking, well-designed UX designer portfolio. Clearly, Karolis spent time considering its UX. Apart from the sparse, clean layout and great UI designs, a lot of detail is provided on his design process. For example, on the CUJO project, he describes how he interacted with the user base while doing his research, identified the biggest user pain points, and worked out where they could add more value. On all of his projects, UX research takes center stage as the primary driver of design decisions, and he wraps up his projects by describing how successful they were.

His UX designer portfolio site is at: http://karoliskosas.com

Originally from Washington, D.C., Alex is an illustrator turned UX designer. As well as co-founding a business focused on B2B products, he has worked with the Local Search Team on Google Maps and on eCommerce and social gaming projects. He continues to put users first while considering simultaneous and future efforts, ensuring pixel perfection and a delightful user experience.

Taking one of his projects as an example—Google Live Popular Times—Alex clearly spells out what the project was about, what he did, and how he got there. He presents the problem and the UX research performed in order to dig deep and define the design problem statement . He also mentions design constraints on an existing product, and how he took user research insights to come up with a simple solution.

Taking back a few brownie points because among all of the great UX process case studies, he has a project thumbnail that links to a Dribble shot and offers no detail whatsoever about the project. It’s best for UX designers to demonstrate a consistency of design in their UX portfolios as it conveys professionalism and respect for the visitor.

His UX designer portfolio site is at: https://www.alexlakas.com

Hailing from a small town in Australia, Simon is a product designer currently based in San Francisco and has worked on projects for some major brands such as Uber, Amazon, Google, Medium, and Barclays (bicycle rental).

Simon’s case studies are very detailed and take visitors through his design process in a thoughtful way. His example of the London By Bike app for the Barclays bike rental system is especially thorough. He really researched potential users and came up with detailed personas that he uses throughout the project to guide design decisions, priorities, and to create empathy between the client and his team. He went out for a ride himself to “walk a mile in the user’s shoes;” in this case “ride a mile.” - :)

His UX designer portfolio site is at: http://simonpan.com

Niya Watkins

Niya is a freelance UX designer based in Washington, DC. She previously worked in international affairs and says that her time in the civil service is where she learned what a hindrance inefficient, poorly-designed websites were to productivity. She often found herself using creative solutions to save time, energy, and money, and was subsequently ‘accidentally’ pushed into user-centered design, ergo: UX.

What’s Great About Her UX Designer Portfolio

To kick things off, Niya gives us the background of each project, her role, and research process. She then goes into her process for: personas, card sort, information architecture, sitemap, interaction design, wireframes, prototypes, user testing and all the other typical steps a great UX designer takes to arrive at the best designs. She even includes a link to the InVision prototype for all to check out. Very comprehensive.

As with Rahul a few reviews down, we’re taking back a few brownie points because of site navigation issues (this could be a Squarespace template limitation—nevertheless, it’s poor design). Also, the “latest projects” section has four projects on her homepage, and when she invites visitors to “see all” we see the same four projects, nothing more. That’s not what was expected and it’s bad UX.

Her UX portfolio site is at: https://www.niyawatkins.com

Pendar Yousefi

Pendar didn’t grow up in 60s America, and never went to the moon, but has always done things because they were hard. Today, he finds himself leading the design team at Google Translate , with a mission to help the 10% of the world’s population who use their products every month.

Really juicy UX case studies. Pendar goes into great detail about his UX design process on every one of his projects, presenting the problem and the challenges each presented. Looking through his UX design case studies and the hypotheses the team came up with around the product problem, make for a fascinating and educational read. Often the product team assumed a bunch of reasons why a problem existed, only to find out after user research that those assumptions were completely wrong.

The UX design process case studies are very detailed—almost too much—but despite their volume are easy to read because there is just the right balance between illustrative images and text as he walks us through the process. When user testing shows the design is heading in the wrong direction, it’s fascinating to see how the team took a sharp turn and corrected course.

His UX portfolio site is at: https://mahimoto.com/projects

Rahul is a freshly-minted UX/product designer who interned at Google in the summer of 2018. He writes about his experience and what he learned in a detailed and self-reflective manner. Prior to his UX internship, he worked for 3 years as a UI and UX designer in both enterprise and start-up environments. His UX portfolio includes case studies of work for Amazon Go Plus, GE Appliances and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Rahul’s case studies are very detailed and walk people through his design process in an easily consumable way. Some designers make the mistake of adding way too much text to their case studies—most reviewers/ recruiters are busy and simply don’t have the time to go through that much detail. Use graphics and charts, they get to the heart of the process and speed up readability.

We’re taking back a few brownie points due to some site navigation issues and for using a general goal description. His designer goal statement: “ My goal as a designer is to create engaging, functional and accessible user experiences that delight people and solve complex business problems ” doesn’t differentiate him from fifty thousand other UX designers out there. UX designers need to make themselves stand out by sharing something that is unique about them.

The site’s navigation is not great. “Work” and the homepage are exactly the same. If you click on “About” it reloads the same page into a new browser tab over and over again.

A lot of UX designers use portfolio templates from Squarespace , Wix , etc. which is fine—nevertheless, it’s important to remember that your UX portfolio has its own UX, and you will be judged on the usability—the UX design of your portfolio.

His UX designer portfolio site is at: https://rahuljain.co

Samuel Medvedowsky

Samuel is a French UX & Interaction designer based in Paris currently working at Metalab . He has designed for both large and small companies and enjoys finding innovative ways to create useful, usable and engaging products as well as delightful user experiences.

In line with other successful UX designer portfolios, Samuel provides visitors with a given project’s background, his role, and the challenges he faced. When going through a project, he tells us how deep user research showed him where the user pain points were, and helped him define clear objectives and scope. His UX design process is demonstrated clearly throughout the project walkthroughs.

As with a couple of other UX portfolio examples included in this review, we’re taking back a few brownie points because of site navigation issues. When we’re on the homepage the “Case Studies” navigation link just reloads the page. Also missing is something that would have been the icing on the cake: there are no takeaways about what he learned at the end of each project.

His UX portfolio site is at: http://www.samuel-medvedowsky.com

Kristian Tumangan

Kristian is a California native with several years of in-house and agency experience. A self-motivated designer, he especially enjoys understanding user behavior and being able to use that information to design delightful experiences.

Kristian’s UX design process is demonstrated clearly throughout the project walkthroughs. The typical UX design methods and subsequent UX artifacts are shown step-by-step—discovery, personas, storyboarding , sketches, wireframes, prototypes, sitemaps, user testing and so on. And he finishes up with the key learnings he took away from the project. He addresses the problem, the solution, his role, the tools he used throughout the process, as well as providing a link to his live Marvel prototype.

Again, as with other UX designer portfolios included in this review, we’re taking back a few brownie points because of site navigation issues and silly stuff under his “About” page: “infrequent golfer, gamer, internet surfer, napper, sporadic traveler, and decent cook.” UX designers must pay attention to the UX of their site.

His UX designer portfolio site is at: http://www.ktumangan.com

Adithya Holehonnur

Adi is a software engineer turned UX designer who grew up in Kudremukh , a small town in the heart of the western ghats in India where he spent most of his childhood wandering around in jungles or playing cricket. He currently works as a UX design lead for Honeywell, Bangalore.

Replete with animated GIFs of final app designs, this UX designer portfolio stands out, not only because of the detailed case studies but also for the “reflections” section at the bottom of each project—as UX designers we continue to learn from every project we engage. Adithya also presents the results that were achieved at the end of his case studies so visitors can see for themselves what design goal was accomplished—the successful fruits of his product design process.

His UX designer portfolio site is at: https://www.adithyaholehonnur.com

Dora trained as an industrial designer at two of the world’s leading design schools. Fascinated by beautiful environments, creatures, and objects, she is also interested in the philosophy of design and in examining the social implications of product-making. She enjoys the complexity and fast pace of UX design and ‍likes to explore the possibilities of commercializing new product ideas because she believes that profitability and business success can ensure that artists and designers not only survive but also thrive.

Dora is a recent grad of Springboard ’s UX Course. Her UX designer portfolio case study for her capstone project “Five-to-Eight” is exemplary. It goes into great, step-by-step detail about her user-centered design process and how she arrived at her final designs.

Her UX portfolio case study can be found here: https://www.daorongfang.com/5-to-8

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• UX Portfolio Tips and Best Practices
• Presenting Design Work: The Right Way
• The Best UX Tools (with Infographic)
• The Tried and True Laws of UX (with Infographic)

Understanding the basics

What is a ux portfolio.

A UX designer portfolio is designed to showcase a UX designer’s work. It typically contains detailed case studies of UX design projects, demonstrating skill and approach.

What is the work of a UX designer?

A UX designer is an advocate for the end-users of a website or product. Key areas of focus include information architecture, user research, branding, visual design, and content. They need to empathize with their subjects, tell a story well, and possess strong creative, technical and problem-solving skills.

What are UX methods?

Some UX design methods include service blueprints, customer journey maps, personas, use cases & scenarios, wireframes, user research & usability studies, prototyping, sketches, accessibility analysis, heuristic analysis, brainstorming, mood & storyboards, KPIs, competitive audit, stakeholder interviews.

What is a UX process?

There is overlap in the UX design process, but the key phases are UX strategy, research, analysis, and design.

What does a user experience researcher do?

A UX researcher engages user experience research which is used to communicate what is needed from the end user’s perspective to UX designers and product teams and includes a wide range of methods, eg. usability testing, interviews, surveys, card sorting, tree testing, heat maps, field testing, etc.

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How to Write a Case Study for Your Portfolio

Table of Contents

Are you ready to showcase your design skills and move your career to the next level? Crafting a compelling case study portfolio is an art form that can set you apart from the competition. This guide provides tips on how to write a case study for your portfolio that will reflect your experience and make you stand out. A well-crafted portfolio covering the key aspects of a professional case study might help you win that big project. So, start writing your case study portfolio today and care for the final results that will lead you to success.

What Is a Case Study Portfolio?

A case study for a portfolio is a compilation of diverse evidence showcasing the analytical and creative skills of an individual . It includes detailed case studies demonstrating their ability to think critically, analyze problems, devise solutions, and present results effectively. This type of portfolio usually involves research and analysis, presenting quantitative and qualitative data for review. Ultimately, it provides employers with a snapshot of a potential hire’s capabilities in practice.

Why Is a Case Study Important for Your Design Portfolio?

A case study is crucial to your design portfolio. It offers insight into your unique ability to solve problems and create meaningful solutions . By sharing an example of how you approached a challenge, you can demonstrate your skills in user experience (UX) design, problem-solving, and creativity. Additionally, a well-written case study provides inspiration and interesting insights into the design process that may prove valuable to potential employers. When writing a case study, it’s important to highlight the key factors that made your solution successful. Be sure to show rather than tell by using visuals such as sketches or prototypes to illustrate your thought process.

Tip on How to Write a Case Study for Your Portfolio

Follow the tips to create a compelling case study portfolio with the proper structure and design. It must showcase your abilities and highlight your value as a designer.

Give Background Information on the Project

It is essential to provide an overview and background information on your project. This will help readers understand why this particular work was needed and what it hoped to achieve. Focus on providing context for the reader to understand your work better. This will also help you explain how you used your skills, knowledge, and experience to create a successful outcome.

Define the Goal of the Project

When writing a case study for your portfolio, define the project’s goals, so people know what outcomes were expected. Include details such as why the client wanted the work done, any time constraints, budget restrictions, or other considerations they had.

Mention Your Process and Experience

Describe how you approached the project and how your previous experiences allowed you to complete the work. Share the different challenges you have encountered during the process. Also, showcase your expertise by providing insight into your thought processes, problem-solving strategies, and workflow throughout the project.

State the Outcome of the Project

Explain clearly how your project benefited the client or solved their problem. Include information about how you measured success (e.g., increased website traffic or improved customer satisfaction). Highlight any feedback from the client or praise for the finished product if available.

Explain Your Role and Give Credit

Remember to give credit where it’s due! Detail who else contributed to the project, such as a team of writers, developers, and graphic designers. And make sure to explain what each person did during the process. Also, state your specific role in the project and how you used your unique set of skills to deliver great results.

Include Images With Captions

Visuals help bring a case study to life and make it more memorable. Images can illustrate key points in the text and make it easy for the reader to understand the project better. Add pictures of your work and brief captions describing the image. Otherwise, it would look just like an image gallery.

A great case study portfolio is one of the best opportunities for businesses to create and design a visual story that outlines their successes. Let your client know what you want them to learn from the case study and what they must know to make informed decisions. This article provides some valuable tips on how to write a case study for your portfolio . This will help you convey your expertise to the client and make your business stand out from the rest.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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How to Create a PDF UX Design Portfolio

Many times, it’s not enough if you have an online UX design portfolio. Many recruiters also ask for a static PDF UX portfolio which contains more in-depth walkthroughs of your design projects. So, to get you perfectly ready for a UX job, let’s go through the steps to create your PDF UX design portfolio, followed by 4 essential design tips you should take note of when you do so. Finally, we’ll end with a sample PDF UX portfolio you can download as a reference.

What’s the Purpose of a PDF UX Portfolio?

To start, let’s examine why you need a static PDF UX portfolio.

While a PDF UX portfolio might seem similar to an online UX portfolio, it serves a slightly different purpose. Of course, both types of portfolios serve to help get you a UX job. However, you’ll often use your online UX portfolio to apply for a job and only send a PDF UX portfolio to interested recruiters .

PDF UX portfolios tend to showcase more in-depth detail about your UX case studies , which gives recruiters a better idea of how you solve design problems. Additionally, you can tailor your PDF UX portfolio to exactly match the job you apply for, unlike your online UX portfolio, which caters to every recruiter who visits your website.

Your static PDF UX portfolio allows recruiters to learn more about your design process , which is useful in the lead up to a job interview. Author / copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright license and terms: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

With that covered, let’s go through the steps to create your PDF UX portfolio!

3 Steps to Create Your PDF UX Design Portfolio

1. start with a tool you’re familiar with.

You should use a tool that enables you to quickly and efficiently write and edit your PDF portfolio. Your PDF portfolio will contain mostly images and text, so you can use anything from a simple word processor or slideshow editor to advanced graphic editing software.

We recommend these tools below to create your PDF portfolio. We try to be as unbiased as humanly possible—and receive absolutely no commission or other benefits from recommending these tools. Of course, also feel free to choose your own software.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Pro: it’s one of the easiest tools you can use to create your PDF portfolio.

Con: you cannot easily create beautiful graphics on PowerPoint.

Apple Keynote

Pro: it’s one of the easiest tools, plus you can create beautiful graphics with relative ease.

Con: it’s only available on Mac machines.

Adobe Illustrator

Pro: you can create advanced and custom illustrations easily.

Con: it’s not very efficient to use Illustrator to create text-heavy projects like your PDF portfolio.

Pro: it’s easier to use Sketch to manage texts than on Illustrator, and Sketch has almost the same features as Illustrator.

2. Create Your PDF Portfolio

Now comes the meat of the process. Once you’ve selected the tool you like, you can begin writing your PDF portfolio.

Use our skeleton outline as a guide for what to include in your PDF portfolio:

Keep this section short and sweet—use around 3–4 sentences to introduce yourself.

Add some information about your current and previous job as well as education.

Include basic contact information, such as your email address.

A note on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and confidentiality

If any of your projects involves an NDA, insert a page here to tell your recruiter that you’ve masked some information to retain confidentiality.

You can also include a line here that the recruiter should not share your PDF portfolio with anyone else, since it contains confidential information.

3 UX case studies

Each case study could span anywhere from 5 to more than 10 pages, depending on how in-depth you want to go.

Generally, your PDF portfolio case studies should be more in-depth than your online UX case studies, but remember to keep them manageable and relevant for a recruiter.

If you’ve earned an Interaction Design Foundation Course Certificate as part of the project, remember to insert it and add the unique link to the certificate’s page so recruiters can verify the authenticity.

Final page with contact details

End your PDF portfolio with a final page—you could include a short thank-you message plus your contact information.

3. Export to PDF and Upload It to Somewhere Accessible

We recommend the PDF format because it can be read on most devices , including smartphones. In contrast, Word documents cannot be read on some smartphones without the right app. The PDF format also ensures that your recruiter can only read—and not edit—your portfolio.

Upload your PDF portfolio to a cloud service such as Dropbox or Google Drive, or your own web server if you have a personal website. This way, you can quickly send a prospective recruiter the link to your PDF portfolio whenever you need to.

Upload your PDF UX portfolio to somewhere you can access quickly and easily. That way, you can quickly send it as a link or attachment to your emails or messages. Author / copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright license and terms: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

That’s it—you’re done! Now, you’re ready to send an in-depth PDF UX design portfolio anytime. To further help you, we’ve created a checklist of 4 tips to follow when you create your PDF UX design portfolio. Read on to learn more!

4 Design Tips to Follow for Your PDF UX Design Portfolio

1. tailor it to the job role or position.

One advantage of a PDF portfolio over an online portfolio is that it can be tailored, whereas your online portfolio has to cater to all audiences on the internet. So, tailor it!

For example, you can tweak your “About me” page to focus on traits that are relevant to the job role you want to apply for. If you’re applying for a user research role, for instance, highlight your strengths related to empathy and data analysis. You can also tailor which UX case studies to include in your PDF portfolio, depending on what role you apply for.

Your PDF UX portfolio gives you the power to tailor it to every job role you apply for—and even to every job position in each company. Author / copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright license and terms: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

This is where it becomes incredibly powerful when, as we suggested above, you use a tool you’re familiar with to create your PDF portfolio. This way, you can make quick edits to create different versions of your PDF portfolio without breaking a sweat.

2. Make It Usable!

Your PDF portfolio needs to be usable , because recruiters will judge you for that. If your PDF portfolio is difficult to read or use, you will create a bad impression and hurt your chances of getting the job.

Here are a few guidelines to make sure your PDF portfolio is usable:

Make sure text is readable . Remember that recruiters might read your PDF on their (small) smartphone screens.

Take note of color contrast . Ensure that your texts and important visuals have enough contrast to be comfortably seen.

Check your PDF before you send it—sometimes, your tool might not have exported your portfolio into a PDF properly. Check if there’s any missing text or images.

3. Make It Visually Pleasing and Consistent

Like your online UX portfolio, your PDF UX portfolio has to look good . Even if you don’t have a background in visual design , it’s important to polish things so they give a great first impression.

Here are some ways you can make your PDF UX portfolio look good:

Use consistent fonts . This is a big one! A different font somewhere will instantly give recruiters the impression that you’re not a good designer and that you lack attention to detail.

Stick to a color theme . This is similar to the guideline above about fonts. Use the same few colors throughout your PDF to create a consistent visual experience.

Use PowerPoint or Keynote templates . We recommend Keynote, because templates in Keynote tend to look more visually polished than those in PowerPoint.

You do NOT want this: a visually inconsistent PDF UX portfolio is a sure way to create a bad impression. Please check that you use consistent fonts and colors! Author / copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright license and terms: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

4. Watch Your File Size

This is an easy one to forget. If your PDF UX portfolio contains a lot of images, you need to pay attention to its total file size . Remember that recruiters will download your PDF as an attachment in an email, from the cloud or from your web server. You don’t want recruiters to have to wait 10 seconds or longer to download your PDF (especially if they do so on their phone).

The difference between a PDF that’s 2MB and 5MB can be astounding, when you consider slower smartphone download speeds. At 3G mobile download speeds, a 5MB file can take a whopping 10 seconds to load!

Remember that not everyone will access your PDF UX portfolio via super-fast Wifi or broadband internet. If your PDF portfolio is too large, you will waste precious seconds! Author / copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright license and terms: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Optimize your images before you insert them in your PDF UX portfolio. Use services such as TinyPNG to shave off up to 70% of your image’s file size, which can make a huge impact!

Download Our Design Guidelines for Your PDF UX Portfolio

We’ve prepared a PDF of our 4 design guidelines , which you can download and use when you work on your PDF portfolio:

Get a Sample PDF UX Portfolio

We’ve created a dummy PDF UX portfolio, which you can download to use as a reference:

The Take Away

Your static PDF UX portfolio is meant to give interested recruiters an in-depth look at how you solve design problems. To create your PDF UX portfolio, follow these steps:

Start with a tool you’re familiar with, such as Keynote or Sketch.

Write your UX portfolio—use our suggested skeleton outline as a reference.

Export to PDF and upload it to somewhere accessible , so you can share a link to your PDF UX portfolio without much hassle.

Just like in online UX portfolios, there are essential design-related guidelines you should follow when you create your PDF UX portfolio:

Tailor it to the job role you want to apply for.

Make it usable.

Make it visually pleasing and consistent.

Watch your file size.

References and Where to Learn More

Check the color contrast of your PDF portfolio’s text and graphics with WebAIM’s color contrast checke r.

Compress your images with TinyPNG ’s service

Hero image: Author / Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and license: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

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If you want this to change , cite this article , link to us, or join us to help democratize design knowledge!

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Simply copy and paste the text below into your bibliographic reference list, onto your blog, or anywhere else. You can also just hyperlink to this article.

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WEBSITE ESSENTIALS

15 best UX portfolios and what we can learn from them

• Talia Cohen
• 10 min read

Get started by: Creating a website → | Getting a domain →

An online portfolio is a must for designers at all career stages, from entry-level freelancers to senior staff designers. Potential clients or employers expect to see a portfolio showcasing your design skills before they make a hire. As a designer it's a type of website to make to showcase your work.

Has your curiosity piqued? Continue scrolling to view 15 of our favorite UX design portfolio examples: Feast your eyes on their impeccable design, learn from best practices and get inspired to create a website of your own.

What is a UX design portfolio and why do you need one?

Any designer working in their respective industry must have a professional portfolio . For UX designers, a portfolio is a chance to present your best work, creative process and personality. You can also provide in-depth case studies that communicate how you facilitate a user experience. However all UX design portfolios need to balance an engaging visual experience with one that enhances usability.

15 UX portfolio website examples

This curated list of best portfolio websites highlights some of the best practices these pro UX designers have implemented on their Wix sites. Take these into account when creating your own UX design portfolio.

Sophie Brittain

Diana Tatarenko

Run Wild Studio

Saloni Joshi

Dalya Green

Lital Karni

Sophie Westfall

Michaella Twersky

Gautham Mukesh

Zebi Williams

Jennifer Etsuko Higa

Tania Soraya

Sophie Chen

01. Sophie Brittain

Digital and branding designer Sophie Brittain has crafted an inviting, spacious design on her UX portfolio. A visual of brightly colored abstract shapes appears at the top of her homepage. The motif repeats throughout her portfolio, helping to define a distinct personal brand.

Key takeaway from Sophie Brittain’s UX portfolio

Sophie utilizes the website's top fold to introduce herself and briefly clarify her areas of expertise. Stating her name and creative discipline within the field of design in large typography, site visitors won’t miss this essential information. She’s also added a friendly “hello!” and a personal touch in the form of custom icons.

When you put your own portfolio together, make your personality and expertise clear. Prospective employers and clients will likely look through dozens of UX portfolios in addition to your own, so add personable touches to make yours stand out.

02. Diana Tatarenko

This 2021 Wix Playground Academy participant created a mesmerizing UX portfolio using clean lines and simple colors. The addition of a whimsical, lime green font gives off a playful vibe.

Key takeaway from Diana Tatarenko’s UX portfolio

The highlight of Diana’s website is its “Work” section, which not only displays her recent projects, but also explains her process. Each project outlines the problem the client faced and explains how Diana solved it through design. She shows visitors her vision, thought process and images to support each step—offering a comprehensive overview of her creative workflow.

Your portfolio is a chance to be transparent with your clients before you even meet them. By showing how you overcome challenges and solve problems when creating your final product, clients will have more confidence in your approach.

03. Run Wild

Run Wild’s UX portfolio offers an almost interactive experience, using a video background to serve as the site’s welcome screen. A tagline is written in block white letters with a button that begins the user journey placed below, starting with the designer’s bio. The entire site is whimsical and informative, plus it's a breeze to navigate through. Run Wild allows his artistic talent to shine through the use of a hamburger menu, large typography, scrolling effects and images of his design projects.

Key takeaway from Run Wild’s UX portfolio:

Run Wild uses two forms of navigation. The first is a hamburger menu, placed in the upper left corner. There is also a horizontal navigation menu in the website footer, with each menu item written across the bottom of the page.

Take Run Wild’s lead and make all the information visitors need accessible through simple and clear navigation. If someone has to hunt for your resume or contact information, they may give up and leave your site.

04. Saloni Joshi

This straightforward UX portfolio contains a spacious top fold dedicated to a short, introductory paragraph and links for getting in touch with Saloni. Further down, you’ll find her showcased projects.

Key takeaway from Saloni Joshi’s UX portfolio:

Saloni includes quality written content on her UX portfolio, presenting all the most crucial information in an easy-to-read and familiar (yet professional) tone.

Similarly, you should use written content to clarify your information (like your name and current employment status), as well as highlight opportunities of interest and project details. Like Saloni, strategically place these essential details on your portfolio using a readable font and minimal amounts of text. Visitors will want to find the details they need quickly without having to search. Additionally, we suggest adding your CV directly to the website’s menu.

05. Dalya Green

Dalya Green’s one-page UX portfolio certaisonly packs a punch, leaving visitors with a well-rounded impression of her work and vision. The site is full of fun, engaging elements like the gradient background, whose color scheme visitors can change on their own.

Key takeaway from Dalya Green’s UX portfolio

Dalia includes a white button with the words “Click to see some fun facts” on the top fold of her site. Upon clicking, five more colorful circles open up, overlapping her intro with fun facts including her morning routine and her Netflix vibe. She even has another pink button at the bottom of her page in the “Info” section that says, “Missed the fun facts?” When visitors click, the same facts appear overlaid across the screen. This creatively grabs visitors attention and entices them to continue exploring.

As a UX designer, your job entails creating smooth and effortless digital interaction, so make your portfolio an engaging experience. When you allow visitors to not simply observe your portfolio, but interact with it in unusual ways, it shows off your creativity and design skills—offering a sneak peek at what they can expect from your work. In addition, it makes your portfolio unique and memorable.

06. Lital Karni

The energetic combination of colors stands out on Lital Karni’s professional portfolio, making the top fold appear both sophisticated and playful. The layout on the homepage is simple with an organized fullscreen grid. Lital has carefully matched a different background to each project, while also creating a cohesive homepage aesthetic.

She has also created a custom logo design that stays fixed to the screen and acts as a convenient link to her homepage. Thanks to its subtle glow, the letterform logo remains visible against any background color.

Key takeaway from Lital Karni’s UX portfolio:

Lital has used a combination of techniques for displaying contact details and allowing visitors to contact her. For example, a “Let’s Talk” button is fixed to the screen as you browse through her portfolio, tempting site visitors to reach out. Clicking it will take you to a contact form at the bottom of the page. On top of this, she’s added her email, phone number and social links on her About page, ensuring that visitors have no problem getting in touch.

When you make your own UX portfolio, make sure your contact details are visible. After all, the goal of your personal website is to draw attention to your works and ultimately get hired. Make it easy for employers or clients to get in touch by including all the necessary information in an easy-to-spot location—either on a dedicated contact page or via your website footer or About page. You may also consider adding your email address, phone number and links to your social channels.

07. Jung Hoe

UI/UX designer Jung has created three simple pages on his UX portfolio (Work, About, and CV) which visitors can easily navigate through in the upper right corner menu. When landing on this site, viewers are initially taken to Jung’s Work page, which also acts as the site’s homepage.

Key takeaway from Jung Hoe’s UX portfolio

Jung's bright yellow portfolio not only grabs your attention, but gives you a glimpse into his upbeat personality. In addition, an animated background of yellow spheres falling from the top of the screen introduce Jung along with rotating greetings in 13 different languages. English greetings include “Hi there!” and “Howdy partner!” and instantly allow visitors to emotionally connect with this designer.

Jung Hoe’s website exemplifies how a UX portfolio can extend your design brand. The look, colors and tone of voice remain consistent on each page and even extend to his CV. Jung's unified brand identity creates a memorable impression that helps visitors understand what to expect from him and his work.

08. Sophie Westfall

A primary tenet of Sophie Westfall’s work relates to dealing with mental health and supporting nonprofit agencies. Following this principle, she incorporates calming color tones and soothing imagery so that visitors “feel calm and safe” while looking through her work. An old black and white photo of her family sits next to a brief introductory paragraph, and a small black and white butterfly flutters in the lower left hand corner.

Key takeaway from Sophie Westfall’s UX portfolio

Clean, symmetrical lines outline Sophie’s projects on a beige background. Her digital projects appear on a desktop, tablet or cell phone screen, conveying her ability to tailor her work to any device. The three digital showcases Sophie has chosen to feature also include props that emphasize the final product design. The right-sized images don't overwhelm site visitors, but still show off the detail of her work as well as her obvious talent.

Display your work how you want viewers to see it. Sophie’s UX portfolio shows us how to beautifully showcase work on an intended platform. If a project has both a mobile and desktop design, feature both assets so potential clients can see your full range of talent.

09. Michaella Twersky

Product designer Michaella (Miki) Twersky’s portfolio has a classic look, but it simultaneously conveys her unique personality. Miki has added a hover effect on the images on her homepage. While the images first appear in black-and-white, they saturate with color when hovered over. This helps visitors focus on the specific project they’re viewing, improving their browsing experience.

Key takeaway from Michaella Twersky’s UX portfolio

While it makes a big impression, Michaella’s portfolio only highlights six of her best projects. Since your UX portfolio show off your best skills, you don’t need to include everything you’ve worked on throughout your career. When choosing which of your own projects to display on your portfolio, include only your favorites or those that reflect the type of work you'd like to do in the future.

10. Gautham Mukesh

This UX portfolio example perfectly reflects Gautham Mukesh’s sleek and modern design style. The dark mode-inspired color scheme is paired with clean fonts and perfectly implemented animated trigger effects to convey that this UX, product and web designer cares creating a user-friendly browsing experience.

Key takeaway from Gautham Mukesh’s UX portfolio

Less is more. Your portfolio should highlight both your design personality as well as your work. But don’t forget the importance of white space—that is, empty space that will help draw peoples’ eyes to your strategic content.

Gautham's clean and simple website emphasizes only vital components of his work. And although it’s easy on the eyes, Gautham’s web design is still rich with sophisticated design features like customized imagery, parallax scrolling and a convenient QR code for getting in touch.

11. Zebi Williams

Starting with a striking hero image, Zebi's UX portfolio takes visitors through a seamless journey to discover the designer's work, experience and processes. Overall, Zebi's site supports important written information with visual details, like color, animation and imagery.

Key takeaway from Zebi's UX portfolio

Zebi's engaging portfolio delights first-time visitors. A map tracks a user's location as they scroll through the site’s homepage, encouraging continued exploration. Each section of the UX portfolio has value—whether it's detailed case studies, testimonials, supportive imagery or contact details.

12. Jennifer Etsuko Higa

Jennifer's UX portfolio has a trendy 90s vibe thanks to unfiltered imagery, use of a serif font and the vintage feel of her warm color scheme. While it's clean and easy to read, Jennifer's homepage proves that you can make a bold statement with minimalistic elements.

Key takeaway from Jennifer’s UX design portfolio:

Use your knowledge of design principles to fine tune your layout. Jennifer uses her understanding of complementary colors and their effect on the visitor to create a seamless user experience that engages without overwhelming or distracting.

13. Tania Soraya

Tania uses a combination of earthy, neon and neutral colors on her website to foster a more attractive experience. Tania showcases just three core projects she's worked on recently to give visitors a focused overview of her work. Using a friendly written tone and emojis throughout, Tania seems approachable, encouraging visitors to reach out for more details.

Key takeaway from Tania’s UX design portfolio

Tania’s site uses minimal visual and written content, but communicates a clear vision of her modern style. The simple, clean layout paired with a mesh gradient background emphasizes her personal style.

Sometimes, a good website background is all you need to let your personality shine. In Tania's case, the sophisticated gradient proves two things: First, Tania definitely has her finger on the pulse of web design trends. Second, she's not afraid to jump outside of the box.

14. Madison Yn

It’s the little things that make a site more attractive for visitors. Here, Madison implements strategic design elements that please the eye—like animation to grab attention and white space to create visual balance. Additionally, the use of large typography enhances the level of readability, making the site a breeze to scroll and read through.

Key takeaway from Madison's UX portfolio:

The top fold of your homepage is visible as soon as visitors reach your site. Since it takes only seconds to make an impression on a user, treat it as valuable web design real estate.

Madison takes full advantage of this concept. The top fold of her home page is rich with color. It includes a short professional bio, CTAs and a succinct navigation menu. On top, Madison's animated logo makes a striking impact to the overall design.

15. Sophie Chen

We appreciate how Sophie Chen’s UX portfolio gets straight to the point. The timeless web design dives right into a display of work experience examples, starting at the top fold of her homepage.

Each piece of her portfolio examples includes a title, short summary and a button that leads to the “case study.” Visitors have the option of learning more about Sophie’s process and the specific tools she used for each project.

Key takeaway from Sophie Chen’s UX design portfolio:

The straightforward layout used on Sophie's portfolio translates well on mobile devices. The same information viewed on the desktop version can be comfortably accessed from a smaller screen. The content fits perfectly into the user interface, especially thanks to the hamburger menu which allows more room to display each page's content.

When creating a UX portfolio of your own, make sure you use either adaptive or responsive design methods to perfect the mobile version. And with almost 60% of online traffic coming from mobile devices , you'll avoid missing out on customers who discover your portfolio on-the-go.

10 best practices for your UX portfolio

After drawing inspiration from fellow creators and other UX research websites , gather your takeaways and craft your own online presence. Here are the essential design portfolio tips to learn how to make a portfolio from the selection of UX industry examples above:

Make it instantly clear who you are and what you do.

Be easy to contact.

Present your portfolio with high quality imagery.

Describe your work using succinct copy.

Present your process, and not just your final product.

Use your website to establish your brand.

Add an updated copy of your CV.

Mention the basic details of each project.

Only include your best work.

Make sure your site looks good on mobile

How to make a UX portfolio website on Wix

Ready to start a portfolio of your own? Take these steps to learn how to make a website . You can start with portfolio templates to speed up the process or hone your design skills and make one from scratch. Once you've laid a foundation, customize your UX portfolio keeping best practices in mind.

Choose a portfolio website template

Personalize your site with website design features

Dive into the Wix Editor to drag and drop your elements into place

Upload your media

Add an About page

Add a Contact Form

Publish and promote your site

UX portfolio FAQ

What does a ux portfolio consist of.

A UX portfolio should showcase your best work through carefully selected projects with comprehensive case studies. It should include the following elements:

An About Me page that introduces you and your work.

Case studies that detail your design process, problem-solving abilities, and outcomes.

Visual examples of your work, such as screenshots or videos.

Design artifacts such as personas, user journey maps, and information architecture diagrams.

Your skills and tools relevant to UX design.

Contact information so potential employers can reach you.

How do I start a UX portfolio for beginners?

Here are some tips on how to start a UX portfolio for beginners:

Start by collecting your best work. This could include personal projects, school projects, or freelance work.

Write case studies for each project. Each case study should explain the problem you were trying to solve, your design process, and the results of your work.

Gather visual examples of your work. This could include screenshots, videos, or wireframes.

Create a website or portfolio to showcase your work. Discover the complete solution for building a portfolio that stands out online and create a portfolio website .

Promote your portfolio online. Share it on social media and submit it to job boards.

How do you make a killer UX portfolio?

Here are some tips on how to make a killer UX portfolio:

Be selective about the projects you include. Only include your best work that is relevant to the jobs you are applying for.

Make sure your case studies are well-written and informative. They should explain the problem you were trying to solve, your design process, and the results of your work.

Use visuals to illustrate your work. This will help potential employers understand your process and see your results.

Keep your portfolio up-to-date. Add new projects as you complete them and remove any projects that are no longer relevant.

Get feedback from others. Ask friends, family, and colleagues to review your portfolio and give you feedback.

Related Posts

Best portfolio websites to fuel your inspiration

17 portfolio templates for creative professionals

15 illustration portfolios that are brimming with talent

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10 UX/UI Design Portfolio Examples to Inspire You (Updated for 2023)

January 17th, 2023

15 minute read

Explore these examples of unique, standout UX/UI design portfolios from UX Academy graduates.

Switching careers at any point is challenging.

Switching careers during a time of global and economic uncertainty is an even bigger challenge. That’s why we continue to be awed by the creativity of our UX Academy graduates who commit to pursuing their dreams of a creative career despite the challenges they face. 

As we enter a new calendar year, it's become more important than ever for new UX, UI, and product designers to enter the field with tools and training they need to stand out from the competition of entry level designers and top level talent.

A huge part of the career pivot into the world of product design includes a unique, relevant UX design portfolio. While we regularly publish success stories of UX Academy alumni that profile how and why they made their career switch to UX/UI design, we also like to spotlight a few standout portfolio examples to showcase the original, creative ways that they showcase their abilities.

With the help of mentors and career coaches, the Designlab community continues to create noteworthy portfolios. Read on to explore a selection of UX design portfolios from Designlab students— that are sure to inspire you.

What Is a UX Design Portfolio?

A UX design portfolio is a compilation of work samples that demonstrates your skills and abilities as a UX designer. It should include examples that span the UX design process for relevant projects you've worked on—research insights, concept sketches, wireframes, and prototypes.

One of the most important aspects of a portfolio is to showcase your design thinking process and results. Furthermore, the best UX portfolios demonstrate an applicant’s ability to think critically and solve problems creatively in order to come up with innovative solutions—all valuable components when it comes to hiring managers finding the right candidate.

UX design portfolios are incredibly important for job-seekers because they provide hiring managers with a glimpse into your skill set and experience. The quality of a portfolio is used to quickly weed out potential candidates whose abilities may not match the specific requirements of the job.

Read more: How to Make a UX Design Portfolio: Tips & Examples to Help You Stand Out

What Should I Include In My UX Portfolio?

When building your UX portfolio, think about the types of projects you've worked on and the skills you have developed that would be valuable to potential employers.

Your portfolio should include a mix of work samples from each part of the UX design process, such as concept sketches, wireframes, prototypes, case studies, usability testing insights, or interactive design concepts. The overall look and feel should reflect your personal style while also highlighting the technical expertise you possess. Additionally, consider including any certifications or achievements that help to bolster your credentials.

Ultimately, your goal is to create a portfolio that demonstrates both your technical proficiency as well as creative problem-solving ability. Your portfolio should be concise yet comprehensive – so don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to cram too much into one

In UX Academy, students work extensively with their mentors and career coaches to ensure that their UX portfolios are unique, high-quality, and tailored to the "dream jobs" that they are applying for.

What Makes a Good UX UI Design Portfolio?

There are some fundamentals to include in your portfolio, from projects that align with the type of company or role you're applying for (like how Grace Guibert tailored her portfolio website to highlight the UX writing elements of each project she worked on in UX Academy).

As you create your own portfolio , it's worth remembering that hiring managers aren't looking at your UX case studies in a silo to see if they check all the right boxes—if the UX work displayed in the projects is stellar but your portfolio website as a whole contains bad UX, that can wave a red flag.

For more insight and tips on crafting an effective UX design portfolio, watch this video by Kelly Stevens, who shares her top tips for design portfolios:

Read more: 6 UX/UI Design Portfolio Builders You Should Try, From Low Effort to Highly Customizable

10 UI & UX Design Portfolio Examples

Before they can graduate from UX Academy, each student must have their design portfolio approved by a panel of experts. This helps to ensure that each student has the strongest chance of success in the job search process as they move into the Career Services phase.

Each UX designer portfolio in this roundup is unique and stands out for a different reason. But it's worth noting that each UI / UX portfolio site also embraces visual design and UX best practices to create a powerful, engaging experience for curious viewers and prospective employers alike.

Nicole Locklair, formerly in charge of Talent Partnerships and Career Services at Designlab, selected these ten portfolios to showcase, along with insights into what was particularly great about each one. (Portfolios are listed in no particular order.)

10 Great Portfolio Examples from Designlab Students

Here are some of our top student portfolios, and insights into what we particularly liked about each. (Portfolios are listed in no particular order.)

1. Peter Noah

Peter's portfolio website stands out for many reasons (storytelling, strong UI, variety of work), but his About Me page really sums up his years of experience working in the design field in a straightforward, succinct way. 

Career switchers have a tendency to overshare or digress, but Peter keeps his summary short, sweet, and to the point which is appealing to people who are trying to hire a talented Product Designer who also has a mind for the business of design. 

Read more: Peter Noah shares how he landed a role as Product Designer at Artsy .

2. Josie Allison

We talk about keeping things clean and minimal in design, but sometimes going over the top with visual elements works out. Josie has a background in Graphic Design, and clearly illustrates her ability to surprise and delight in her own portfolio. 

Her unconventional case study presentations challenge the norms, but the details are all there for someone who wants to take the time to learn more. In a sea of grids and san serif, Josie's work is a breath of fresh air. 

3. Jason Mei

Jason's portfolio is clean, easy to navigate, and straightforward, but the little touches are what sets it apart from others. 

The logomark travels with you down the homepage, and instead of just hitting the bottom of the page, you get a short summary of his background, links to other relevant sites, and work history. The scrolling "Always a work in progress," is also a nice way of acknowledging that design evolves, and so will your portfolio. If you click the message, it takes you to the Contact page with a brief manifesto of his design beliefs.

4. Paula Wrzecionowska

When recruiters or hiring managers are sifting through 50-100 UX portfolios for a single role, they may only look at one case study. Paula does a good job in her feature projects of summarizing the client/brand, task at hand, and work she did on the project in the rollover state. 

By including that information, the viewer can choose what's most relevant to them, instead of clicking on a random project that might not resonate. 

5. Gloria Ha

This is another great portfolio website that adds unexpected touches and a bold personal brand into the viewing experience. Elements on the homepage animate if you stumble across them, but aren't moving so quickly or intrusively as to detract from the work. 

'Gloria also has a good variety of work: a skincare e-commerce experience, a bank feature, and a travel booking redesign. Showing your versatility in this way can certainly help when looking for your first UX/UI design role.

6. Aurora Shao

Aurora’s portfolio is clean, easy to navigate, and consistent, all while showcasing her illustrative skills. She does an excellent job of creating case studies that provide all of the relevant information in an engaging way. It’s tempting to have long blocks of writing due to the nature of your projects, but she’s broken things up into sections, added graphics and icons, and kept design at the forefront of each presentation. 

7. Jared Bartman

So many portfolios are grid images on a white page, and while there’s nothing wrong with that approach, Jared’s portfolio stands out for its light grey background and use of color in general. One important feature is the “Back to Top” button on the right-hand side of the case study pages. Instead of having to scroll all the way back to the top of the page after you’re done, he’s made it much easier to navigate and keep going. 

8. Siriveena Nandam

Another great example of how a subtle color shift can make the design that much more compelling. Siriveena also has a nice variety of projects in her portfolio. It’s tempting to only pick what you find most interesting or exciting, but in the real world, you’d be much more likely to work on a very specific feature, or for an audience you have no expertise with. It’s nice to show that you’re interested and able to design for all, and it’s great to see Siriveena reflect that here. 

9. Katherine Chen

Katherine’s portfolio is clean, consistent, and easy to navigate, with section buttons on the left-hand side of the page for navigation on the case study pages. She also shows how to feature a confidential project, which will often happen as a designer. The “Healthcare Staffing” case study shows you a bit of the branding, outlines the ask and deliverable, and when you click on it, brings you to a page where you can email her for access. 

10. Katie Lewis

Katie's portfolio is a great study in how to showcase past work and interests in a way that's not distracting. She lets the viewer filter her work so you can quickly navigate from the homepage. We often emphasize the use of white space, but that doesn't have to mean literal white. Katie uses a range of rich jewel tones in her grid that bring her projects to life and make her portfolio stand out from the crowd.

Are you pursuing a career change into the field of UX/UI design?

If you want to create a UX/UI design portfolio that inspires, we invite you to learn more about our UX Academy bootcamp: a fully online, intensive bootcamp that equips you with the UX/UI skills and portfolio you need to launch a new career in the field of UX/UI design.

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AI-powered adaptive project portfolio management AI-powered adaptive project portfolio management AI-powered adaptive project portfolio management

Harnessing technology to revolutionize functions

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• AI-powered adaptive project portfolio management

Adaptive project portfolio management (PPM) is a crucial approach for organizations to effectively manage their complex and dynamic projects. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into adaptive PPM has opened new possibilities for businesses. The benefits of using AI in adaptive PPM include enhanced forecasting, project selection, real-time monitoring and collaboration. AI brings opportunities to drive efficiency and success in modern project management, revolutionizing adaptive PPM and empowering organizations to achieve their strategic goals.

Research indicates that by 2030, 80% of project management tasks will be run by AI, powered by big data, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing. 1 The wide adoption of this next generation of tools will bring about radical changes. Our aim is to help you prepare for this transformation.

AI-driven project selection and prioritization

Many senior leaders focus on individual projects rather than considering the overall portfolio. This can lead to biased decision-making. AI tools can address this by processing large volumes of data, eliminating biases and enabling management teams to make more informed decisions. Instead of evaluating single project efficacy, AI analyzes all available data for active, completed and canceled projects, including proposals and ideas. This provides valuable insight for project selection, proposal value and likelihood of success.

Moreover, one of the key challenges for senior leaders is prioritizing projects and understanding resource capacity. Overlooking this can lead to managers initiating more projects than feasible and overwhelming employees. The work intake process, a crucial step in project portfolio management, can be revolutionized by utilizing AI. It automatically prioritizes projects based on predefined criteria, saving time, reducing bias and ensuring focus on the most valuable projects.

Realizing portfolio optimization through AI

Project portfolio optimization, a once complex and highly sophisticated concept in PPM, has now become tangible with AI. By considering various factors like value scores, risk assessment, project timelines, scope complexity, team size and resource allocations, AI’s progressive capabilities can complement the project management office’s (PMO) efforts to generate more optimal portfolios. These technologies are bridging gaps in data and skills for portfolio optimization. With AI, organizations can now incorporate more advanced portfolio management practices.

AI’s role in adaptive PPM decision-making

AI brings data-driven decision-making to adaptive PPM. By analyzing historical data, market trends, and various variables, AI algorithms offer valuable insight for informed project management.

AI can significantly help with project forecasting. By analyzing past project performance, resource availability and external factors, AI-powered predictive analytics provide project managers with a glimpse into the future.

Portfolio performance indicators

Project managers, PMOs, portfolio managers and project sponsors can receive advance notice of project performance through AI, resulting in significant improvements to project execution. During ongoing projects, certain keywords in status reports or risk logs can trigger early warnings about potential issues. With sufficient data and learning, it may even be possible to predict different success rates based on the project manager's abilities and experience.

AI can analyze historical project performance, along with data on risks, resources, priorities and schedules to predict future project performance. This is valuable for assessing the likelihood of project success and can alert the projects team if additional resources or adjustments are needed.

PPM chatbot

The potential for AI and ML in chatbots is significant. Future chatbots will engage in more natural conversations, going beyond gathering data or offering articles as responses. In PPM, chatbots will effectively address queries about software utilization and guide users through procedures.

Integrating chatbots in PPM can automate routine tasks, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. They provide instant access to real-time information, from checking project status to reviewing task assignments and tracking resource availability.

Chatbots with predictive analytics also offer decision-making support, analyzing historical data for establishing smart choices, reducing risks and maximizing project success.  

Enhanced monitoring and risk management

AI-based adaptive PPM enables real-time monitoring and proactive risk mitigation. It integrates data from multiple sources, applies advanced analytics for performance assessment and offers adaptive decision-making support. AI-based adaptive PPM ensures optimal resource allocation, alignment with organizational goals, and swift resolution of issues.

Streamlined stakeholder management

AI tools and algorithms can sift through data to identify key stakeholders, understand their needs and recommend tailored engagement. This encompasses personalized communication, targeted outreach and proactive issue resolution for positive stakeholder relationships. Additionally, AI can predict stakeholder behavior and sentiment trends, allowing organizations to adjust their engagement strategies.

Navigating AI implementation in adaptive PPM

Implementing AI in adaptive PPM requires accurate and reliable data. Ensuring data quality and addressing privacy concerns is therefore crucial for optimal AI performance. Additionally, implementing robust data governance and security measures is essential for protecting sensitive project and stakeholder information. To overcome the lack of understanding and resistance from stakeholders, educating them about the benefits and limitations of AI is also important as some may fear AI’s role or mistrust the technology.

The key skills and competencies for AI implementation include data analysis. While not every team member needs to be an AI expert, organizations should follow a balanced approach to identifying AI champions and providing basic AI training to the broader PPM team. Building a change management strategy can help organizations navigate the challenges that arise during AI implementation. This involves clear communication channels, stakeholder engagement, addressing concerns and managing expectations.

OnePlan, a reputable PPM software company specializing in adaptive PPM solutions, encountered challenges in helping organizations make data-driven project decisions, optimize resource allocation, and adapt quickly to changing project priorities.

In response, the company pursued large-scale transformation to integrate AI capabilities into their PPM software. This integration yielded significant results, including:

• Improved decision-making : OnePlan’s AI-supported prioritization model introduced data-driven project selection, leading to projects with higher ROI and strategic alignment
• Resource efficiency: AI-driven resource distribution reduced overallocation and underutilization, leading to cost savings and improved project timelines
• Predictive insight: the AI system provided predictive insight into project risks, allowing proactive risk mitigation strategies
• Strategic alignment: projects became better aligned with the company's strategic goals, enhancing overall business performance

The metrics supported the value of this transformation:

Company A: reduced project delays by 20% and improved resource utilization by 15% within the first year of implementing OnePlan's adaptive PPM with AI. Company B: increased ROI by 18% and reduced project risks by 25% using AI-driven risk assessment and mitigation strategies.

How AI Will Transform Project Management (hbr.org)

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