Being a UX designer and finding quality work is not an easy job, especially when you’re starting your professional career. There are many ways you can generate work both online and offline. The current digital market has brought clients and designers closer and made it possible for UX designers to personally manage the work and clients. Websites like Upwork and Freelancer can be great to start seeking work, but there is a better option - a UX portfolio website.
In this article, we will tell you all about UX portfolios and why it might be a good idea to create a UX portfolio website.
What is a UX designer portfolio?
A portfolio is a document that contains a collection of your best work. Likewise, your UX portfolio is an online collection of some of your best UX designs and ideas. As a UX designer, it is highly recommended that you have a UX portfolio. A UX portfolio is not just a website that displays the end results. It is a window for companies and corporations to understand your working process. It tells them how you provide solutions to problems from the end user’s perspective.
Instead of having to explain what you do and how you do it, you can just show clients your UI/UX portfolio, and the next thing you know, you’ve landed some amazing work.
User-centric UX portfolio examples to inspire you to build yours
Check out these exquisite UX portfolio examples. You will know what a UX portfolio website can do to your career.
• Don Guspino
Image taken from Strikingly’ user website
Don Guspino’s website is an excellent example of minimalist design and user-centric experience. The website uses Strikingly’s latest parallax website layout and which Don has enhanced through her design centric ideas and captivating interface. Her website shows you why you need to plan the layout and content of your website. The large pictures and specific click-points make it easy for visitors to navigate.
As you scroll down, you find each section cleanly separated with eye-catching buttons for the links on each page. The placement and visibility of each aspect of her UX portfolio website are a clear representation of her skillset.
• Hegmann Speke
Image taken from Strikingly’ user website
Some of the best UX portfolios have a simple introduction that not only emphasizes the UX designer’s expertise but also adds a personal touch to it. Hegann’s UX portfolio is a good example of how you must introduce yourself to your clients. His website is basically a showcase of UX designer skills, but when it came to self-introduction, the focus was more on showing his fun side. This can make a big difference when clients have a bunch of designers that they can pick from. Clients don’t want to hire a designer with who they can't communicate with. They need someone who they can approach with easy, and tell their specific requirements
• Ashmith
Image taken from Strikingly’ user website
Ashmith’s UX portfolio is blunt and to the point. He wastes no time in getting to the headline event. His website tells you all that he has to offer in addition to UX, most of which clients would require. He neatly showcases his proficiency in each specialization with eye-catching case studies that instantly tell his working process. Ashmith’s UX portfolio website doesn’t just show you finished products but also gives you a description of the method and techniques used that led him to his designs.
• NguyenThu
Image taken from Strikingly’ user website
NguyenThu’s portfolio website can look very simple at first, but that’s what led it to make it on our list. The characteristic of some of the best UX portfolios is to simplify, and NguyenThu’s website does that amazingly well. Her UX portfolio is more like a personal diary that you’re scrolling through. The layout of the page, the transitions from one page to another, and the flow of her website are something you should follow when you design your UX portfolio website.
So you’ve seen some great UX portfolios and are excited about getting to build your own. We’re pretty sure you’ve got a lot of great ideas from the UX portfolio examples that we just gave. And you just want to start building your personal website right away. Great!
But before you do, just have a look at some fundamental elements that you might need to include in your UX portfolio website.
Website fundamentals to include in your UX portfolio
The excitement of building your first UX/UI portfolio website can be quite overwhelming. You’re in a rush to put up all the information you’ve gathered about yourself onto the website. But before you do, you might want to organize your data and make your website look professional from the very beginning. Here are 6 website pages that your UX portfolio website shouldn’t do without.
- Name, job title, and photo
- Three to five big, nice images of your best projects
- A short bio highlighting the most important points
- Social links
- UX designer resume (downloadable in pdf)
- Contact details, or a contact form so people can easily reach you.
The UX portfolios that we showed you all follow the same design principle while designing their website. There can be many reasons why each designer chooses a design layout but the basic reason is the same - Simplicity. So try not to exaggerate what you want to say through your words. Let the website do the talking.
Why do you need to make a UX portfolio website?
1. Visibility
Having a personal website is a great way to make people notice you on the internet. Especially when your job is to increase user experience and usability, you must have a website portfolio. It is the best way to get your word out and tell the world how good of a UX designer you are. Though being associated with a portfolio hosting platform is a good idea, in the long run, a website can help you grow your profile into a business.
With a website, you have your own domain which creates a personal space for you on the internet. Clients, companies and others looking to hire you will be able to find you with the click of a button. You can get a custom domain registered from a website hosting site such as Strikingly.
2. Control
Having a website is like owning a private business. It’s all yours and no one can meddle with your website unless you let them. You have absolute control to make the website look the way you want it to. Don’t like how your contact me page looks? Change it. Want to update some old case studies? Do it in a flash. You have complete ownership of the website and be responsible for how your website functions. Website hosting platforms such as Strikingly provide some of the best features that make your website just as good as any top eCommerce website. You can set up any type of website and get all the required features and functionality at the best prices.
3. Profit
If you’ve ever signed up as a freelance designer, you’ll know how many websites charge to get you work. Though it can’t be said that they charge a lot, it might be difficult for you to sustain yourself on that. With your own UX portfolio website, you don't have to share your profit with anyone. You will receive the full amount as agreed upon by the client. Depending on how well you build your website you can generate a steady income without having to put in those extra hours.
4. Longevity
Setting up a website is a one time commitment. Unless you stop the subscription to keep it running, your UX portfolio website will always be a good source of getting quality work and extra income. Though other platforms are not temporary, in case you want to change the platform, want to start a profile on a new platform, you’ll need to keep your data secure. When you have your own website, you have full control of its existence as well as the content.
5. Scalability
Having a personal UX website is great if you’re planning to scale up in the future. If you’re just working as a UX designer for the time being you might want to join a hosting platform but in case you want to establish your business, you will need a website. It makes it easy when you’re ready to scale up as you already have a base to start from. You can revamp your website to expand its functionality and server capacity to ensure smooth performance.
How can I create a UX portfolio?
Step 1: Narrow down your areas of expertise
You might have a lot of things that you might be good at but clients only want the best. Showcase those skills that you know people will pay for and not something that you want to showcase. Be careful as to not overcrowd your resume with abilities that are more of an interest than a specialization.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
Step 2: Organize your projects
Before you decide which of the works go on the website and which don’t, you need to have all of them in one place. So, get all of your best work and weigh out which you felt were the best. You can even take opinions from colleagues and friends to choose on those works that show what you can do with UX.
Image taken from Strikingly’ user website
Step 3: Choose your choice of medium
This is the most important part of building a UX portfolio website. You need to decide where you’re gonna be hosting your website. You have a lot of options to choose from but you need to check what you need from the hosting platform. As a portfolio website doesn’t need much processing and limited resources, you could go with it.
Image taken from Strikingly
Step 4: Present your projects
You might be good at your work but how can a client know this? You need to highlight your best work and tell clients how good you are. Your landing page is the most important page that sets the tone for your website. Clients sometimes choose UX designers just based on how well they have created the landing page.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
Step 5: Get feedback and iterate
Remember to check how well you’ve set up your website from a third-person perspective. This is important as you can sometimes lose track of what you’re doing and make a website that might look good on paper but not quite in reality. Once you’ve done all this, you’re all set to build your UX portfolio website and start your professional UX design career.
These points should put you on course to building your UX portfolio website. Get on Strikingly and build your free website right away. Strikingly is the best website hosting platform for hosting portfolio and personal websites. You can sign up for free and check out the various design templates in their collection. You can also surf through Strikingly’s blog section to get more information on the best website designs, templates, and site feature to help you create the best UX portfolio website and put you on course to become a highly sought out UX designer.
