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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 case studies for your design portfolio

A good case study on your design portfolio is a great way to make it stand out. Here’s how to get it right

Illustration: Yali Ziv

• Jul 13, 2020

Putting a work process into words might cause some to break out in a light sweat, but just like the rest of a design portfolio , a case study is a chance to shine. The key to approaching such a task is by realizing that crafting the perfect case study isn’t that different from any other design work you do.

Here’s everything you need to know about writing good case studies, from how to structure them visually, to which details to include and more.

What is a design case study?

In a nutshell, the main aim of a case study is to tell the story of a specific project of yours. The text you write can put your design work into context and make it more fully understandable. Integrating images with text, a case study outlines the most important details of the process, from the brief you were given, to how you approached the task, to the final result. Incorporating case studies into your portfolio helps give potential clients or employers a look into how you work, what you’re good at and what your thought process is.

When making your online design portfolio, note that not every project requires a full case study. You can pick the projects you’re proudest of, giving you the chance to highlight your skills and explain what made the design so successful. Now that we’re on the same page, here’s our best advice:

Include the relevant details

To make sure you’ve covered all the relevant information, here’s a checklist of the main details to include. Note that these aren’t strict guidelines - it depends on how thorough you want to be and what you feel is important for your project.

1. Background info: If you were working with a client, include their name and what they do, plus the date and location in which the project took place. Also explain what your role was within the project (for example “Web Design,” “Branding” or “Art Direction”). If you worked in a team, credit the other people and list their roles. This is also the place to give a brief sentence on what the project actually is.

Example: See how designer Ariel Sun , introduces her rebranding project:

“The Human Project at NYU (THP) worked with the agency Ogilvy & Mather to redefine their brand and develop a new logomark. As THP's internal graphic designer, I applied that visual language to a variety of marketing & communications assets and fresh brand collateral.”

2. Goal: Briefly explain what the aim of the project was. You can base this on the design brief you worked with throughout the project.

Example: Design studio and Wix user, Run Wild , state the goal of their UX project:

“The challenge was to redesign a convoluted site into an action-oriented site that provides clear navigation and call to action.”

3. Design process: You can really decide how much you want to elaborate here. Keeping it short is also an option. Either way, the idea is to talk about the main stages you went through in the design process, which decisions you made and why, what your approach was, and any changes made throughout.

You can include some of the research you did and what your inspirations were. Don’t be afraid to mention any challenges you experienced or concepts that were later scrapped - as long as you keep a positive attitude and explain the reasoning behind the decisions, remember that it’s all part of the process.

4. Results: Here, present the final outcome and your main learnings. You can also write about how success was measured. For example, state whether all your client’s expectations were met (this can be in the form of client quotes if you like), or perhaps include stats you have about an increase in sales, or describe how part of your design was later used on a larger scale.

Example: In this case study about a redesign for a website, Ariel Sun explains the results:

“The result is an engaging and unexpected twist on a garden party that tells a clear story while still leaving room for the viewer’s imagination. After reviewing a set of submissions that included work from our very talented colleagues, Tattly picked this design and will elaborate it into a full-on marketing campaign.”

Make it skimmable

We all know that we live in a time of short attention spans . Even when it comes to prospective clients or employers, they want to get a feel for your design project fairly quickly. That’s why you should make your case studies accessible, inviting and easy to grasp at first glance , both in terms of the design and the text itself.

The layout of the page should serve the storytelling process, revealing information in digestible, bite-sized chunks. Combine images with text cohesively, somewhat like the structure of a magazine or book. See how designer and Wix user, Brittney Johnson , separates the parts of her case study into drop-down sections, enabling you to focus on one point at a time.

Split up your text into paragraphs and add headers that will enable visitors to navigate easily from section to section. Consider emphasizing certain words by making them bold, changing their size or opting for a different color. Additionally, caption each image with a brief description, so that even people that aren’t into reading lengthy text can comprehend the context. It will also help make your design more accessible , offering your visually impaired site visitors an alternative understanding of the image.

In terms of the writing style, keep it concise and to the point . Use short sentences that explain exactly what you want to say, without repeating themselves just for the sake of sounding sophisticated. This doesn’t mean you need to sound robotic - you should still keep it personal and remember that at the end of the day, your target audience is humans.

Write it like a (short) story

Just like in any other design project, a case study simply tells a story. And that’s exactly the way you should write it. It should have a structure, including a beginning, middle, and end, made up of all the relevant details (scroll up if you missed what those are). It’s not just random sentences placed one after the other, but rather, an outline of a process, generally written in chronological order.

Maintain your tone of voice

On a similar note, remember that your case study describes your project, so feel free to let your individual personality shine through in your writing. Keep the same tone as in the rest of your design portfolio’s copy , in order to form a clear personal brand and consistent browsing experience.

You don’t need to be overly formal or use complex jargon, as this could just end up intimidating people. On the flip side, including jokes might be taking it a little too far. Simply focus on getting the point across succinctly and in your own language. As a result, the likelihood is that you’ll give your site visitors a better idea of who you are and where your specialty lies.

The combination of text and images helps break it up into a story-like layout, resulting in a more immersive and engaging experience, which is why you should make sure not to only include visuals. Plus, text is great for your design portfolio’s SEO (search engine optimization), increasing your chance of ranking higher on search results.

Get more inspiration on how to tell a visual story through your portfolio with these 8 graphic designers’ websites .

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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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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.

• Inspiring redesigns of design agency portfolios
• 6 ways to power up your portfolio
• How to start a blog: 10 pro tips

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29 Impressive UX Portfolio Examples and a Guide for Creating Yours

Klaudia Simon

Design leads always start with portfolios when reviewing candidates. So, all UX designers – juniors and seniors alike – need an impressive  UX portfolio . Though putting one together might seem daunting, once you get an idea of what it takes, the rest will come quickly. So, let’s get started by checking out some stunning UX portfolio examples:

Kyle Kovacs

This example shows: consistency is the key to creating a stunning UX portfolio on a tight schedule. Kyle uses the same font throughout the portfolio, adjusting only its size or weight. This results in a sleek look. Also, he’s frugal with words on his portfolio’s landing page. This is in line with the newest UX portfolio trend: minimalist writing. Many designers add long sentences of eloquent introduction to their home page, and in most cases, it reads awkward or even forced. Don’t be afraid to keep it brief on your landing page! Design leads and recruiters care about design skills first. And your personality can shine on your About page, like Kyle’s.

Victoria Tu

It’s not only colors that account for consistency in a UX/UI portfolio. Check out how Victoria utilizes shapes, depth of field, and device mockups to coordinate her thumbnail layouts. The result is eye-catching. What’s more, thanks to the compositions, this UX intern portfolio looks dynamic without forcing elements to actually move around on the page.

Maxwell Marra

Maxwell’s UX portfolio website is an impressive showcase of his skills as a UI/UX designer & creative lead. The site’s design is pristine and intuitive, reflecting Marra’s commitment to user-centric design principles alongside his understanding of the latest UX portfolio trends. His projects – which range from the redesign of a budgeting app to a winter sports app – highlight his ability to translate innovative ideas into delightful digital experiences.

Max’s is the perfect example of what a UX portfolio should look like. Here’s why: it’s light and airy, with satisfying, pastel colors and soft, rounded corners. The UX of Max’s portfolio is also on point since the case studies are easy to reach, and the content is concise. And by making the case studies’ titles appear on hover, he didn’t compromise on the UI either. So, Max’s is a solid UX portfolio in all aspects.

Adrian Weber

Look no further for a portfolio to use as a basis for yours. Roland’s portfolio conforms to all UX portfolio best practices: only the basics in his hero section, 3 of the most important pages in the navigation, and 2 case studies presented matching thumbnails. It’s effortless, usable, and elegant.

Karl Ligeti

If you take a look at the best UX design portfolio examples, you’ll soon realize that the liberal use of whitespace is fundamental to all of them. Yet still, many designers – especially juniors – are frugal with it because they fear that their portfolio will look empty. If you’re unsure about whitespace, check out Karl’s portfolio: it has a minimalist design with plenty of whitespace, yet the portfolio doesn’t look empty.

Nicola Petrie

Nicola’s UX design portfolio is a love letter to minimalism. Her custom thumbnails use the same device mockup styles, yet they don’t look repetitive at all since Nicola experimented with the arrangement on each thumbnail. The result speaks for itself. Her case study titles and subtitles are effective too: The title reveals the purpose of the app/project. Meanwhile, the subtitle describes the scope of the project. This way, we open each project with some background knowledge.

Rachel Baek

Rachel B is a UX designer and researcher who translates academic research into user-friendly products. Rachel’s portfolio is easy on the eye with its refined design and a comforting color scheme that reflects her personality and style. She follows UX portfolio best practices by using a consistent layout and clear navigation through and through. Her UX case studies highlight her hard skills, such as UX research, wireframing, and prototyping, as well as her soft skills, such as communication and collaboration. Rachel’s portfolio is a great example of how to portray, promote, and showcase a wide range of design skills in a captivating manner.

Hana Nakano

Hana used UXfolio’s Norman template as her base, transforming it into something unique with the available customization options and features. The intense blue accent color creates an exciting contrast with the white background. Her thumbnails are in perfect harmony because she created them with UXfolio’s Thumbnail Designer. This feature allows you to design professional thumbnails inside UXfolio: just bring your designs and the rest is on us! Hana’s portfolio is proof that you can create a memorable UX portfolio without overdesigning it.

David Bornfirend

David’s UX portfolio website is a masterclass in clean and modern design. The homepage is pure yet attention-grabbing thanks to the large headline that sets the tone for the rest of the website. This direction, combined with the black-white-gray color palette, underlines David’s professionalism also apparent from his well-structured and stunning case studies, in which he achieves the perfect balance between copy and visuals.

Aniela Carolina

Aniela has been a designer for 10 years and her experience is obvious from the way she presents herself and her work. First of all, she chose a lovely accent color and applied it consistently throughout various elements of her pages. Furthermore, she uses icons and typography to create a sharp content hierarchy. The longer case study titles on her home page act as super-descriptive snippets into the projects. She included 3 projects in her portfolio, yet, as you scroll through her home page, it feels and looks more because of the project grid she chose in UXfolio’s editor.

Annie Nguyen

Annie’s portfolio stands out for its sharp design, fonts, and clean thumbnails. She keeps the copy minimal on her home page, which prompts us to jump right into one of her detailed UX case studies. We like the way she tagged each case study: her role, the field, and the design type. This way, if someone’s looking for a mobile designer, they can jump right into the mobile design case study. Saving time for your users is among the top 3 things you can do for them. This applies to all products, including your UX portfolio.

Kevin Hursey

An effortless and chic portfolio that’s proof: you can never go wrong by keeping your UX portfolio’s design lowkey. Here, the focus is on elegant typography and fantastic case studies. And the result is top-notch. It’s evident that Kevin’s confident in his skills and work. He doesn’t need to compensate with an overdesigned portfolio like so many designers. If you wonder why just check out the Brightminds case study. It has a solid structure, crisp visuals, and engaging storytelling that highlights UX. It’s one of the most popular UX case studies on UXfolio’s Showcase .

Since the 2020s we’ve been seeing more and more dark UX portfolio examples. As you can see from Melysia’s example, dark templates are especially beautiful when the content is kept to a minimum, and there are bright elements to break up the darkness. Melysia uses UXfolio’s password-protection feature on her case studies. This feature allows you to set up passwords for individual case studies or your entire portfolio to protect sensitive material.

Robyn Hines

Here we have a fun yet still elegant portfolio. There are a few fantastic tricks up Robyn’s sleeves that we’d like to highlight. First, check out how she uses those diffused, colorful blobs in the background of her thumbnails to tie them together. The thumbnails link to very different projects, yet they are in perfect harmony on the home page. Second, Robyn uses a layout that fills up her portfolio. By making the thumbnails bigger and presenting them in a vertical list, the portfolio doesn’t look empty. If she’d use small thumbnails on a grid layout, the perception would be quite the opposite.

Jaclyn Chao

Jaclyn describes herself as someone with “[an] eye for simplicity, keen observational skills, and obsession with organization” – traits that can be traced in her UX design portfolio. She took a minimalist portfolio template and made it her own through careful font selection, dynamic project thumbnails, and harmonizing colors. What’s more, Jaclyn wrote an engaging and memorable About page, which is a rather challenging feat.

Alyssa Ignacio

If you’re looking for the perfect, non-cliché designer statement, check out Alyssa’s: “Making a positive impact on my communities through collaboration, empathy, and endless funfetti cookies.” As simple as it is, this intro – mixed with the warm tones of her portfolio – makes her instantly likable. She keeps to this much-welcome conciseness throughout the portfolio. Though the whole UX/UI portfolio looks amazing, we’d like to highlight the type she used for the descriptions on her thumbnails: it’s small, stylish, yet still readable. Many designers are afraid of small font sizes, but with the right type, going small can create a chic effect without affecting usability or accessibility.

Madison Green

Madison mixes various colors in her portfolio – green, blue, lilac, and red – yet it looks coherent. That’s because she uses similar, dusty shades of each color. And just like that, without even reading a word, we know she has an eye for design. She features four case studies on her home page, each represented by consistently designed thumbnails, a short title, and the right amount of description. Before even opening the project, we learn what her role was and what was the project scope. So, this is an excellent example of great UX meeting good taste.

Natalie Kyle

When you hover over Natalie’s project thumbnails, you can read project subtitles like “The days of hunting your data are over” or “Show me the money! ” These are only really small details, but you can’t help but smile while reading these subtitles. Allowing your personality to shine via funny or unexpected copy is always a great direction. Recruiters and UX professionals have to look through dozens of case studies each day. Therefore, including a small but unexpected detail might just be your ticket for an  interview .

We hear many stories of researchers struggling with their UX research portfolio . Saba shows you how to tackle this challenge. Instead of going with the usual serious look, she created a playful portfolio, using bright colors and a handful of matching emojis. Emphasis on matching. This look works for Saba because the emojis on her project thumbnails are from the same source, and the colors she uses on her backgrounds are in perfect harmony.

Nuwanthi Illukkumbura

If you’re wondering what a senior UX designer portfolio looks like, check out Nuwanthi’s! With 10 years of experience under her belt, Nuwanthi knows a thing or two about curating her work. She showcases her expertise and skills in 4 impactful case studies, focusing on

• UI redesign, and
• UX overhaul.

Many designers believe that the more you’ve worked in the industry, the more case studies you need in your portfolio. This isn’t exactly the case. What’s important is that you showcase your range through your best work. Design leads or recruiters will not read through 10 case studies, so it’s better to curate your best work only like Nuwanthi does.

Benny’s portfolio is clean and professional. He saves his introduction to his About page to pull our attention toward the projects. That’s how we know we’re looking at a senior UXer’s portfolio. Experienced designers know that in UX, case studies get you the job. The reason is simple: case studies showcase your UX skills and process in action, underpinned with examples. Therefore, as our research revealed, most design leads go for case studies right away when opening a portfolio. Benny understands this, and he crafted this stunning, consistent portfolio accordingly.

Jack Bernstein

Jack uses bold colors to upset the clinical minimalism of UXfolio’s Otis template. The good thing about templates so subdued is that they work great with bold design choices as well as a serious tone. It’s up to you which route you go down. Jack went with vibrant pink, lilac, sky-blue, and mustard. Each of these colors is fantastic on its own, but they also work perfectly together. We love the inclusion of the simple “Illustration” page . When clicking it, you’d expect to see static images laid out on a page or maybe a gallery. Instead, Jack embedded an adorable video of him drawing with a baby in his lap. This small gesture makes the entire portfolio even more personal.

Otilia Pandelea

Otilia made her portfolio unique by using a stunning font pairing: Poppins with IBM Plex Mono. This pairing and the harmonious color story look wonderful throughout the entire portfolio. Her about page, with custom graphics, is another highlight. We love the two lists: one about her goals and another about her frustrations. It’s new. It’s fresh. Also, the two lists balance each other perfectly and make us feel in tune with her.

Quentin Muraz

Quentin’s UX portfolio was built according to the “less is more” principle. The look is on point, and so is the content. Using  UXfolio’s  thumbnail styles, he made sure that the case study titles appear on hover only. And it’s worth hovering for these titles and subtitles! They utilize a great formula for naming UX/UI case studies: the app’s name for the title, and a short but revealing sentence for the subtitle.

Bjorn Gulpen

Here’s proof that you don’t have to overthink your UI/UX portfolio to achieve something great. Bjorn’s hero section is simple and welcoming. The first thing we see when landing on the portfolio is a high-quality portrait, with a friendly smile on his face, alongside a short design manifesto. Bjorn’s case study thumbnails don’t follow an obvious color story, yet they work together perfectly because he used the same text styles and naming formulas on each.

Rachel Platt

Salesforce Product Designer, Rachel used  UXfolio’s  thumbnail generator to create stunning thumbnails that match the style of the case studies they’re linking to. The thumbnail generator takes your case studies’ hero section and your images (with or without device mockups) and offers you various thumbnail options. It’s up to you which one you chose. When clicking one of the thumbnails, you’ll see that most of Rachel’s case studies are password-protected. This feature allows you to build case studies based on sensitive materials while keeping control over who can view them.

With positive emojis in her bio and colorful project thumbnails, Ellen brings warmness to this otherwise strict and minimal template. By using large typography under her thumbnails, she drives attention to the copy, which describes each project in a concise style. Ellen’s Neurotime case study is also featured on our showcase since it’s the textbook example of how it should be done: clear structure, plenty of visuals, and descriptive but not overlong. She uses UXfolio’s built-in device mockups to present her examples, ensuring that the case study looks visually consistent.

Dae Hyun Baek

Dae Hyun’s portfolio is simple yet appealing. While the project thumbnails are quite large, their contents are perfectly sized. This gives the whole portfolio a light and modern feel. When you are designing your own portfolio homepage, pay attention to whitespace and margins. Nobody wants to look at a cramped portfolio, and as much as you want to squeeze everything into a thumbnail, you need to make some cuts to keep it simple.

Alexander Kirov

Alexander’s portfolio has some password-protected projects, which is a great way to protect sensitive data or case studies that are not strictly public. What is even better is that he still shows some final UIs or design elements on the thumbnails, so you can get a sense of his overall work even though you can’t peek further. It’s also an option to present more information about the projects right on your own portfolio home page.

Takeaways from the best UX portfolios

Now that you’ve seen some of the best UX/UI portfolios out there, you’ve probably realized that they share many similarities. That’s because they use a portfolio formula that works; a structure which the industry is familiar and comfortable with:

Your home page is your visitors’ first touchpoint with your portfolio. It’s the starting point and the first impression you make. Therefore, it has to

• look great -> so your visitors want to see more.
• help with orientation -> make it easy for them to see more.

Content on your home page:

• Occupation/title,
• Designer statement,
• Links/thumbnails to case studies,
• Navigation (to various pages, like About me, Resume, and Contact).

Case study thumbnails

All things considered, your thumbnails are the most important part of your portfolio’s home page. Even more important than your navigation, for example. If you think about it, the point of a portfolio is to showcase your skills and process through case studies. Therefore, you need to get your visitors to open your case studies. The best way to do this is by creating enticing case study thumbnails and featuring them right on your home page.

The 4 golden rules of case study thumbnails:

• Your thumbnails must look good individually and together since they’ll be laid out close to each other.
• Use the same device mockup style for every thumbnail.
• Make sure that the thumbnails’ backgrounds are identical or harmonizing.
• The thumbnails have to match the home page, not the case study.

UX case studies

We all know that UX goes beyond pretty screens. Therefore it’s understandable that UX leads and recruiters want to see your approach and process. And through case studies, you can show it to them. Great case studies combine the following ingredients:

• Logical thought processes.
• Communication,
• Ability to work independently,
• Decision-making based on research and data,
• Ability to learn from mistakes, and
• Problem-solving.
• Design process.
• Knowledge of UX methods and their application.
• Openness to feedback.
• Desire to improve.

Nice-to-haves in a UX portfolio

While your home page and case studies are the most important elements of your portfolio, you should take it a step further. Adding pages like About/Bio, Contact, UX designer resumé , and social links can make your portfolio more usable, revealing, and personal.

How to showcase skills in your UX portfolio?

Our job at UXfolio includes talking to world-renowned design leaders to find out what they’re looking for in portfolios. We had to pleasure of talking to some of the most innovative and influential UX designers in the industry, such as

• Design Spring inventor Jake Knapp ,
• behavioral scientist Susan Weinschenk ,
• UX industry veteran Jared Spool , and
• InVision lead designer Pablo Stanley .

They all mentioned that the best UX portfolios show the design process and decisions. Of course the final design is important too, but they want to see how you’ve arrived there. They want you to explain your decisions and to tell why you decided to go with those specific solutions.You need to share design stories. Present your design process step-by-step, from the beginning to the end.

Tell your design story with UXfolio!

In case you need a tool to help build your portfolio quickly and easily, we made a great one: UXfolio . We created it specifically for UX professionals, so it’s packed with powerful features that’ll help you through the portfolio-building process. These features include text ideas and guiding questions for copywriting, prototype embedding, scrollable mockups, galleries, statistics section and many, many more. Give it a try!

How to Build a UX Research Portfolio (Step-by-Step Guide)

So you’ve heard about UX research , but you’re not sure how to build your own research-focused portfolio?

Whether you’re new to the field of UX research , or experienced and looking to make your portfolio more specialized, we’ve got you covered!

This guide will cover what a UX researcher does, and how a UX research portfolio is different from a UX design portfolio. We’ll also give you a step-by-step guide (with examples!) to follow as you build your own portfolio.

• What is a UX researcher and what do they do?
• What goes into a UX research portfolio?
• What’s the difference between a UX design portfolio and a UX research portfolio?
• Five steps to creating your UX research portfolio
• Five of our favorite UX research portfolios

1. What is a UX researcher and what do they do?

While UX research falls under the umbrella of UX design , there is an increasing demand for UX professionals with a specialized focus in key areas of the design process —and research is one of these rising stars.

A UX researcher conducts qualitative and quantitative research to inform the design process and keep the user at the center of every design decision.

In broad strokes, a UX researcher is the person on the product team whose job lives closest to the end user.

From user interviews and usability tests to data analytics and deliverables (customer journey maps, for instance), a UX researcher is the most active and vocal advocate for the user’s needs. As such, the work of a UX researcher has arguably the most humanizing influence on the design work that goes into a product.

If you look at what a UX researcher actually does , it’s easy to see that they exercise a skillset that reaches from research strategy and data analysis, to understanding human behavior and effectively carrying on conversations with users and stakeholders alike. That’s an incredibly broad skillset for a portfolio to effectively highlight.

It’s no wonder, then, that there are many UX research bootcamps available now if you want to specialize in this discipline.

2. What goes into a UX research portfolio?

Because UX research is a subset of the broader field of UX, a research-focused portfolio should adopt the general formatting, structure, and content that hiring managers are accustomed to seeing. Your portfolio should include:

• Information about you, your process, and your work experience. A short bio section will usually do the trick.
• Ways to contact and connect with you. Make it easy for potential employers to find you on social media like LinkedIn and Twitter (naturally, it’s best if these accounts are kept up to date and carefully curated).
• Demonstrations of your work. This typically takes the form of powerful case studies and supplemental artifacts showing the work you’ve done. Limit yourself to no more than 3-5 of your best projects that highlight as many of the core skills you see featured in your top UX research job postings.
• Testimonials or references. Show that you’re proud of the work you’ve done and that former clients and colleagues are happy to voice their appreciation of your UX research.

Most, if not all, of these components are included in the portfolios you’ll find in collections like UX Collective’s 50 Essential UX Portfolios .

3. What’s the difference between a UX design portfolio and a UX research portfolio?

Many of the UX portfolios you’ll find online are design-focused, featuring work that is quite visual in nature—prototypes, wireframes, and fully operational websites and apps. Since these are not the direct focus of UX research, the difference will be in the work and skills you showcase.

Gather artifacts related to the conversations you’ve had with users, responses to the surveys you’ve written, and outcomes of the tests you’ve conducted—and get ready to highlight the context, process, and impact of your work. A UX research portfolio is naturally less visual in nature than its UX design counterparts, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be every bit as engaging!

4. Five steps to creating your UX research portfolio

Step 1: do your research..

The first step in the process is to do what a UX researcher does best: research.

Scour job boards for positions that you find intriguing—not only with the job title you’re looking for, but with the kinds of companies you’re truly interested in. Then dig a little—look up the companies and hiring managers, and see what you can learn. Here are some questions to guide your observations:

• What skills and qualities are explicitly stated?
• Which ones are implicit (read between the lines)?
• What are the companies’ values?
• What are the hiring managers’ values and priorities?
• What soft skills or other qualities are they looking for in a colleague?

Now, take what you’ve learned and make a list of the skills, values, and qualities they’re looking for. Then, whether you check off, underline, or cross them out—whatever system comes naturally to you—mark which of these items you feel most confident about, which ones you’re excited to learn or get better at, and which ones you don’t feel confident in or that you really don’t care to learn.

The important thing to accomplish in this step is to understand who your target reader is and where you stand in relation to what they’re looking for.

Note: Save yourself some time later (in Step 3) and pay attention to how these potential employers ask for portfolios/work samples to be submitted.

Step 2: Select the work to feature in your case studies.

Review the research-related work you’ve done. Pick out the best work samples and artifacts (customer journey maps, usability tests, participant screeners, etc.). Here are questions to guide your determination of which ones are the “best”:

• What have been my favorite projects?
• Which ones best demonstrate my approach to design problems?
• Which ones showcase my research process?
• Where have I made mistakes or had to adjust my process?

Shortlist these projects and artifacts (it’s okay if it’s a longer list at this point), then come back to your list from Step 1. Take one project or artifact at a time and compare them to your list.

Your goal: Find the three projects that best exemplify the skills and qualities you’re confident in and/or excited about learning. Ideally, these will be projects that can be built into a full, narrative case study, with related artifacts included along the way.

Step 3: Decide where your portfolio will live.

You understand the skills and qualities you want to highlight, and you know which of your projects you want to feature in your portfolio. Fantastic! Now, you need to decide what format your UX portfolio should be in .

Will you host your portfolio on WordPress or Squarespace? Set it up in Keynote (or a similar application) and convert it to PDF? Will you code a website yourself? Whatever you decide, you want to look before you leap. Consider:

• How do most of your potential employers request that work samples be submitted?
• What are your actual skills in coding and design? No need to start a crash course in coding or pretend to be a designer if that’s not your strong suit.
• What platforms and programs are you already familiar with?
• What method will best adapt itself to the projects you want to feature?
• Do you anticipate changing your portfolio regularly to adapt to the requirements of individual employers/job postings? If so, PDF format might work best for you.

If you’d like a good starting point, check out this article: 9 Free Websites for Your UX/UI Portfolio .

Step 4: Tell engaging stories.

Once you’ve decided where you’ll build your portfolio, it’s time to get down to it. Your portfolio is really just a collection of stories. These fall under two broad categories:

• Your bio: Who you are as a person and as a UX researcher
• Case studies: Specific work you’ve done, with a focus on context, process, outcome, and impact

Let’s have a closer look at each of these.

This typically goes on the first page or is easily accessible from there. As a general rule, keep this portion under 150 words and cover who you are, what you specialize in, and what your overall approach and processes are. No need to go overboard, but don’t shy away from showing your personality here. Hiring managers are looking for the right skillset, to be sure, but they are also looking for the person who will be the best fit for the team.

Don’t forget that a complete bio includes a way for potential employers to contact and connect with you (don’t forget social media), and any references or testimonials you’ve collected over time (specifically relevant to your work as a UX researcher, if possible).

Case studies.

First: What is a case study? Think of each case study as an individual storybook in a series that will give your reader a well-rounded look at your work. A case study tells a concise story with a beginning, middle, and end, and it give illustrations where possible (but only where they’re needed).

You   know the full range of your skills and experience; your case studies are where you show potential employers that you know how to conduct UX research like a pro .

Take these one project at a time. Look at the project and consider:

• The design problem or question that created the need for UX research in the first place
• Your approach to that problem or question
• The process you followed to define your objectives, conduct studies, create deliverables, etc.
• The artifacts you produced along the way
• What impact your work had on the project—be as specific as possible
• What learnings you gathered on the way

Build these points out into a concise but engaging narrative. Don’t underestimate the importance of giving your reader context, revealing your process, and showing the direct results and impact of your work!

The goal with each case study is it to present a good—but brief—story that highlights what skills you possess, what you learned, and what you accomplished.

Step 5: Test your portfolio.

You’ve got your bio and case studies written. You’ve made it easy for potential employers to connect with you and to see what others have said about your work. Well done!

But you’re not ready to send your portfolio out into the world just yet. Once again, it’s time to do your research. See how your product (portfolio) does with members of your target readership.

If you know people in the field, see if any of these colleagues are willing to look over it. Offer free pizza to friends who can exercise a critical eye in exchange. There are many experienced professionals—such as David Travis , Sarah Doody , and Ran Segall —who share portfolio reviews. These can be incredibly helpful as they give an unbiased glimpse into the approaches and perceptions of hiring managers.

Test it. Improve on it. Update it. Your portfolio isn’t a one-and-done project! It should evolve just as you and your work evolve over time.

5. Five of our favorite UX research portfolios

Finally, here are five excellent example portfolios for you to peruse.

• CareerFoundry graduate and senior UX researcher Lina Žigelytė’s portfolio is packed with great work, presented excellently.
• Jason Lipshin’s portfolio is a great example of one created in PDF or “slides” format and still easily accessible online.
• In her “New cancer patient orientation guide” case study, Katie McCurdy achieves an engaging narrative and includes visual elements that are directly relevant to her work.
• We especially like the concision and visual elements in Carl Pearson’s “Videogame HUD Redesign” case study.
• Emily Alter’s portfolio is structured simply, and presents case studies that are concise and provide just enough relevant visual elements to break up the text and keep the reader’s eye engaged.

Have a look at these and note what you like, what you think will work well for your projects and skills, and what will most appeal to your ideal employers.

If you’d like to learn more about UX research and UX portfolios, check out these articles:

• What Does a UX Researcher Actually Do? The Ultimate Career Guide
• Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your UX Research Portfolio
• Interview Toolkit: Top 5 UX Research Questions to Prepare For

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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Miklos Philips

London, United Kingdom

Member since May 20, 2016

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20+ Outstanding UX/UI Design Case Studies

Discover an expertly curated collection of 20+ inspirational UX/UI design case studies that will empower you to create outstanding case studies for your own portfolio.

• Comprehensive end-to-end case studies covering research, ideation, design, testing, and conclusions.
• Perfect for designers building portfolios and looking for inspiration to create their own case studies.
• Learn new methods and techniques, improve your understanding, and apply them to your projects.
• Gain insights from the successes and challenges of accomplished designers.

Want to get access to 30+ more case studies including smart tagging system?

Download full version

All case studies included in this collection are sourced from real designers' portfolios and are used for the purpose of learning and inspiration. The original authors retain all rights to their work.

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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The 10 Most Inspirational UX Design Portfolio Examples in 2024

The highly competitive landscape of UX design demands a portfolio that will be your passport to success. It's your stage to unveil your expertise, innovation , and problem-solving prowess. Irrespective of your expertise, crafting a compelling UX design portfolio is essential to thrive in this exciting field. The easy way out of this is referring to UX portfolio examples .

94% of first impressions gained by websites are due to the platform’s design and web UI . Apart from the budding UX designers and the business masters, the clients and hiring managers are aware of these stats as well. Hence, to stand out and get the best business, designers must showcase their work in the best way possible. A well-designed product designer portfolio is the solution.

This article uncovers the secrets of creating the best UX portfolios . With a list of the top 10 UX portfolio examples , you will get valuable insights and inspiration to transform your portfolio into a masterpiece. 

Best UX Design Portfolio Examples

1. pratibha joshi: cover the vital elements of an attractive portfolio.

Pratibha Joshi’s landing page with her introduction and current designation.

© Pratibha Joshi Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Pratibha Joshi is a product designer working in the field of UI /UX design. She also has a degree in UX design and has worked with Microsoft, Sprinklr, and Google. Pratibha’s UX portfolio is an ideal example of UX design portfolios. It is a captivating blend of design finesse and compelling narratives, a masterpiece that both novices and experts in the UX realm can refer to. Her portfolio is unique in that it seamlessly intertwines design projects with captivating stories while incorporating all the essential elements, making it a good UX portfolio. Unique and Inspirational Factor This portfolio stands out due to its perfect combination of design and depth. It expertly blends fascinating stories into her design projects, making it an inspiring resource for UX designers and hiring managers. Her ability to convey the design process and decision-making behind each project is a source of inspiration. Differentiator and Major Takeaways Pratibha’s portfolio is unique in its use of thorough case studies , which showcase her problem-solving abilities and meticulous design approach. It goes beyond merely showing the finished product; it reveals the entire design process . The key takeaways include a strong focus on user-centered design and a structured presentation of her work.

Pratibha covers all elements of a UX portfolio through her case studies.

What can beginners and experts learn from this? Newcomers can learn the art of storytelling and cohesive presentation, while seasoned professionals can admire the depth and detail of her case studies. This portfolio is a benchmark for effectively communicating the value of UX design work and is a perfect example of a good UX portfolio .

2. Gloria Lo: Land the Landing Page Game

Gloria Lo’s landing page with her introduction, designation and hobbies.

© Gloria Lo Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? As the landing page shows, Gloria Lo is a Sydney-based UI/UX product designer. She also dabbles in singing, painting, and writing. She has very smartly incorporated it into her landing page, giving visitors a quick overview of her likes and skills.

This portfolio is an excellent example of effective landing page design and personal introduction in the digital world. It is a compelling model for those seeking to make a powerful first impression. Unique and Inspirational Factor What distinguishes Gloria’s portfolio is its meticulous attention to the landing page. The design is visually captivating and highly functional. These attributes offer seamless navigation to the designer's work. Attention to detail is inspirational for those who seek to make a striking first impression and communicate their unique personality. Differentiator and Major Takeaways Gloria’s portfolio stands out from the competition through its well-thought-out landing page that provides clear signposts to the designer's skills, personality, case studies , and projects. The major takeaway is the importance of balancing aesthetics and user-friendliness in the design of the landing page, ensuring that visitors can quickly access the heart of the portfolio. What can beginners and experts learn from this? The professionalism in this portfolio is evident in the precision of the landing page, where design elements harmonize with user experience. Beginners can learn how to craft a landing page that makes an immediate impact, while experts can appreciate the meticulous design decisions that contribute to a seamless and engaging user journey.

Writer, designer and educator Ellen Lupton shows examples of visual storytelling and the importance of  storytelling in design.

• Transcript loading…

3. Jeff Shibasaki: Establish Expertise as a Novice

 Jeff displaying his work experiences through case studies.

© Jeff Shibasaki Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Jeff Shibasaki is a professional UX writer and a budding UX designer from Atlanta. Jeff’s UX portfolio inspires new entrants with limited hands-on experience in the UX design field. It demonstrates how to effectively utilize imagined case studies, work testimonies, and other creative elements to showcase one's potential and build a compelling portfolio. Unique and Inspirational Factor The portfolio's uniqueness lies in transforming limited real-world experience into a powerful display of skills and potential. The creator boldly showcases their creativity and problem-solving abilities through imagined projects. 

Jeff’s innovative approach sets his portfolio apart in a competitive field.

Imagined case studies used by Jeff to show his design prowess and cover up for lesser experience.

Differentiator and Major Takeaways Key takeaways from Jeff’s portfolio include the importance of creative storytelling , effectively using imagined case studies, and showcasing one's ability to solve real-world design problems. The portfolio's professionalism lies in its capacity to transform limited hands-on experience into core highlights. Jeff utilizes his design skills to make this possible. This proves that imagination can be a powerful asset in UX design. 

Jeff has also highlighted his UX writing skills through the multiple work experiences he has completed. What can beginners and experts learn from this? Beginners can learn the power of storytelling and creatively demonstrating their skills, even without extensive experience. For experts, this example serves as a reminder that creativity and ingenuity can be as important as a long list of past projects. Jeff’s portfolio is perfect if you’re looking for beginner UX portfolio examples.

Stephen Gay, UX Design Lean at Google One, walks us through his criteria for evaluating a UX portfolio.

4. Lola Jiang: Leverage the Power of Measurable Metrics

Homepage of Lola Jiang shows her UX portfolio in a subtle way.

© Lola Jiang Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Lola Jiang is an experienced UX designer working at Google. She is a professional designer who also provides feedback on other’s portfolios. What sets her work apart is her unique approach of exhibiting her accomplishments. Jiang presents case studies in a detailed manner using the correct data. Unique and Inspirational Factor Jiang’s UX portfolio example stands out by emphasizing metrics and showcasing the tangible impact of her design projects. It is inspirational because it goes beyond design aesthetics and highlights how design decisions lead to measurable results. This makes it a valuable resource for aspiring UX designers who want to emphasize the practical value of their work.

Lola’s work with Google ads where she uses metrics to show the impact of her design work.

Differentiator and Major Takeaways Clients are always on the lookout for details that are result-oriented. Lola Jiang, through her UX portfolio, has been able to highlight the impact of a UX designer. Her emphasis on metrics and quantifiable results shows the effects of design decisions. What can beginners and experts learn from this? Beginners can learn the value of data-driven decision-making, while experts can appreciate the thoroughness of her case studies. Lola's portfolio serves as a reminder of the power of metrics in UX design. It also signifies how design choices can drive meaningful and measurable results.

5. Moritz Oesterlau: Case Studies, a Vital Element

Case study by Moritz about his work on building a website concept.

© Moritz Oesterlau Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Moritz Oesterlau is a tenured UX/UI designer. He has six years of experience and also works as a tutor. His portfolio is a compelling example of how to present UX design work in a comprehensive and accessible manner. It serves as a reference for those looking to craft a portfolio that showcases their work with clarity and precision.

Unique and Inspirational Factor This UX design portfolio example stands out for its user-friendly design and comprehensive case studies. It is an informative and easy-to-navigate resource for anyone interested in Moritz’s work. He highlights the importance of providing easy access to essential portfolio details, making it a user-centric example. About Moritz, his work, and his contact details are all made visible in a connected way. Differentiator and Major Takeaways Moritz's portfolio is one of the best UX portfolio case study examples . It is exceptional due to its well-structured case studies that showcase his design process, from initial ideas to final implementation. He has also mentioned the time he took to complete each project. It provides easy navigation to critical information and projects, making it an exceptionally user-friendly resource.

Case study details represented by Moritz in his portfolio.

What can beginners and experts learn from this? Beginners can learn from Moritz's portfolio by understanding the significance of presenting their work in an organized and accessible manner, ensuring that essential details are easily discoverable. For experts, Moritz's portfolio serves as a reminder of the importance of effectively portraying your UX design case studies in a detailed and structured manner.

6. Jessica Hische: Use Design to Showcase Your Personality

Attractive and vibrant homepage of Jessica Hische’s portfolio.

© Jessica Hische Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Jessica Hische is  a lettering artist, author, logo specialist, and UI/UX designer. She has drafted letterforms, worked in advertising, for books & films, and many more. Her portfolio is one of the most captivating UX writer portfolio examples of how to infuse creativity and personal expression into your portfolio. Her work inspires anyone looking to go beyond the ordinary and use their portfolio as a canvas for self-expression. Unique and Inspirational Factor What sets Jessica Hische's portfolio apart is its artistic flair and unique approach to presenting her work. It's inspirational because it showcases the potential of a portfolio as not just a professional representation but as a canvas for artistic expression. Her portfolio is a true embodiment of the fusion of art and design.

Typography , Illustrative and Lettering work by Jessica as displayed on her portfolio.

Differentiator and Major Takeaways Jessica's portfolio uniquely showcases her design skills and highlights her artistic expression and creativity. It goes beyond traditional portfolio formats and demonstrates that a portfolio can be an art form. Key takeaways from Jessica's portfolio include the importance of personal branding, creative exploration, and the idea that a portfolio can serve as a platform for self-expression. What can beginners and experts learn from this? Jessica Hische's UX portfolio example highlights the ability to balance creativity and professionalism. She demonstrates how your portfolio can be a creative expression while effectively communicating one's design skills. It is a valuable resource for beginners and experts, offering insights into personal branding, creative exploration, and the art of merging creativity with professionalism.

Michal Malewicz , co-founder of HYPE4 explains the importance of visual skills and shares some tips in this video.

7. Daniel Autry: Best Foot Forward

Daniel Autry’s introduction on his UX portfolio.

© Daniel Autry Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Daniel Autry is a product designer and developer who works for Google, specifically on news experiences. Daniel’s portfolio is an excellent demonstration of strategic curation when it comes to UX design portfolio examples . It is an ideal reference for those seeking to present their best works with clarity and impact. Unique and Inspirational Factor What distinguishes Daniel Autry's portfolio is his selective approach to showcasing work. It's inspirational because it emphasizes the art of restraint—each case study is a portfolio in itself. This portfolio proves that quality, not quantity, is the key to creating a lasting impression. Differentiator and Major Takeaways Daniel's portfolio stands out by its focused approach, presenting a carefully curated selection of his best works. He has included his best results under the featured tab and mentioned the key areas he worked on in the project. He also concisely mentions his other works in the later part of the portfolio. The major takeaways include the importance of selecting quality over quantity, strategic curation highlighting strengths, and a reminder that a concise portfolio can significantly impact a competitive field. What can beginners and experts learn from this? Beginners can learn the value of strategic selection and how showcasing fewer, high-quality projects can leave a more memorable impression. Experts can appreciate the art of presenting a portfolio that prioritizes the viewer's experience, making it easy to navigate and absorb the essence of each project.

Cory Lebson, Principal and Owner of Lebsontech LLC, talks about how you can reframe your professional experience in your UX portfolio in this next video.

8. Kyle Kovacs: Minimalism And Consistency

Kyle Kovacs UX portfolio uses minimalism to display his design work.

© Kyle Kovacs Portfolio, Fair Use

Who & Why? Kyle Kovacs is a computer science graduate who stepped into UX design due to his passion for design. Kyle shows how consistency and minimalist design can elevate the user experience in a UX portfolio. It is a reference for creating a professional and visually attractive presentation. Unique and Inspirational Factor What sets Kyle Kovacs' portfolio apart is its regularity in both design and content. It's inspirational because it demonstrates how a minimalist approach can still convey depth and impact, showcasing the power of simplicity in UX design presentation . Kyle uses the same font and design styles throughout his portfolio and has kept the text and design elements minimal yet impactful. Differentiator and Major Takeaways Kyle's UX design portfolio example stands out through its consistent design language and minimalist writing style, creating a seamless and engaging user journey. The major takeaways include the importance of visual continuity, minimalist writing, and the ability to convey complex design concepts. What can beginners and experts learn from this? Beginners can learn the significance of maintaining a visual theme throughout their portfolio, while experts can appreciate the art of simplifying complex ideas. Kyle's portfolio serves as a reminder that a minimalist approach can be both professional and impactful.

9. Yu-Hsuan: Illustrative Touch To Make Up For Locked Projects

Homepage of Yu Hsuan’s UX portfolio, a product designer at Oracle design.

© Yu Hsuan Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? Yu Hsuan is a product and UI/UX designer working on financial products at Oracle Design. She has previously worked at Google Assistant, NYU IT, and Backer-Founder. Yu has seamlessly blended UX design with an illustrative touch. It is an inspiring reference for those looking to infuse creativity into their portfolios, primarily through visual storytelling. Unique and Inspirational Factor Yu Hsuan's portfolio harmonizes UX design and illustration , creating a cohesive narrative for her work. Many UX designers face the confidentiality factor associated with their projects while curating their portfolios. Yu has managed to leverage her design skills to her benefit to tackle this problem. With an illustrative touch, Yu has tried to add depth and personality to her UX projects. Differentiator and Major Takeaways Yu's portfolio offers a glimpse into her UX projects through password-protected case studies while creatively showcasing side projects with an illustrative flair. The major takeaways include the importance of storytelling, the integration of illustration to convey personality, and how a mix of locked and visually accessible projects can create a sense of mystery and engagement. Yu has tried to incorporate and showcase whatever is missing in the locked projects using her illustrative skills in her side projects, which she calls Playground. What can beginners and experts learn from this? Beginners can learn the power of storytelling through visuals, while experts can appreciate the strategic use of locked projects to build anticipation and curiosity. Yu's portfolio is a reminder that creativity and a personal touch can coexist with professionalism.

Side projects and experimental design work by Yu Hsuan as displayed on her portfolio.

10. Run Wild: Interactive Design and Seamless Navigation

Run wild design’s interactive and appealing landing page on his portfolio.

© RunWild Portfolio, Fair Use

Who and Why? RunWild Design , aka Chris, is a designer who has worked for over 12 years with brands on their products, websites, apps, and UI/UX designs. He also does illustrative and graphic work. Chris introduces a refreshing take on UX design presentation, emphasizing interactive brilliance. He has created an immersive experience that aptly integrates design work. Unique and Inspirational Factor Its innovative interactive design and easy navigation set Run Wild’s portfolio apart. It's inspirational because it transforms the typical UX portfolio into an engaging journey, allowing visitors to explore projects effortlessly. This portfolio inspires by demonstrating that UX design can extend beyond projects, creating an immersive and memorable experience.

Run wild design’s portfolio inroprates seamless navigation by highlighting cire elements of his design work in his portfolio.

Differentiator and Major Takeaways Run Wild's portfolio stands out through its commitment to user experience, leveraging vital elements of its design work (Logos & illustrations) and user-friendly navigation. Chris understands the importance of the ease users seek, even if it is a client trying to find the best designers. He has successfully incorporated interactive design and smooth navigation to present diverse work. What can beginners and experts learn from this? The innovative portfolio of Run Wild can teach beginners the value of incorporating interactive elements to make their portfolios more memorable. Expert designers with more experience can note the strategic use of easy navigation to guide visitors through diverse projects.

Takeaway: So, What Makes a Good UX Portfolio?

Crafting a stellar UX portfolio is more than just showcasing your design projects; it's about storytelling that resonates with your audience. All the remarkable UX portfolio examples from across the world have shown us that irrespective of your tenure or experience, paying attention to crafting an innovative UX portfolio can push you toward success very fast. The portfolio is a testimony of your design skills if crafted with a specific vision, keeping in mind the key elements that the industry looks for. 

The essential elements of a good UX Portfolio: Powerful storytelling, Data-driven case studies, Strategic Curation, Minimalistic Approach, Interactive Brilliance, Personality and Creativity.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Let's revise the key takeaways from these inspiring UX portfolios to understand what makes a portfolio stand out:

1. Powerful Storytelling : Explain the design journey from concept to execution by seamlessly blending captivating stories with design projects.

2. Data-Driven Case Studies : Try to showcase the tangible impact of your design decisions through data to convey real value and highlight the importance of organized presentations.

3. Strategic Curation : Make your portfolio stand out with its selective approach by strategically showcasing your best work.

4. Minimalistic Approach : Demonstrate the power of minimalism in your portfolio by using simple and crisp design elements.

5. Interactive Brilliance : Use interactive design and seamless navigation to create an immersive experience for your visitors.

6. Express Personality : Make your portfolio a canvas for self-expression by going beyond showcasing skills and finding ways to infuse creativity into your portfolio. 7. Infused Creativity : You can showcase your skills with an out-of-the-box creative approach to make your portfolio stand out among competitors.

Want to Create a Stunning UX Portfolio?

Beginning the journey to create a UX portfolio that impresses and captivates your potential clients can be daunting. Whether you're just starting or looking to enhance your existing portfolio, the path to excellence lies in understanding the art of presentation. 

Gain insights from industry experts, refine your storytelling techniques, and learn how to showcase your work with IxDF's course on creating a UX portfolio . This course is the ideal option if you’re looking to elevate your design narrative to new heights!

References and Where to Learn More

We’ve used the following UX design portfolios of these great designers:

Frances Tung

Christina Richardson

Joshua Taylor

We’ve also used the hilarious The Worst Portfolio Ever , created by Alex Cornell. You can check out Alex’s explanation of his parody portfolio here .

More Inspirational UX portfolios here.

How to Create a UX Portfolio

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10 best UX design portfolio examples for 2024

Every UX designer needs a portfolio. Find inspiration for your own in these great UX designer portfolio examples.

Build completely custom, production-ready websites — or ultra-high-fidelity prototypes — without writing a line of code. Only with Webflow.

Your UX design portfolio stands as proof of your skills and creativity. It’s not just a visual showcase — it reflects your expertise in user-centric design principles.

Creating a compelling user experience (UX) design portfolio goes beyond aesthetic appeal. It blends visuals with visitor-friendly functionality, demonstrates how you align design choices with user needs, and curates a thoughtful website layout that narrates your design process.

Every detail of your site, from the structure to color scheme, should demonstrate your intention and capacity to deliver a seamless and impactful UX. Your portfolio is your canvas, the platform where you apply and showcase the skills you’ve honed to become a UX designer .

The 10 best UX portfolios

We've compiled ten of our favorite examples of great UX portfolios to inspire you while you create your own.

1. Emi Lantz

Emi Lantz's portfolio embodies subtle sophistication, captivating visitors with a striking dark theme and a minimalist approach. Her adept use of animation underscores her multifaceted skillset, showcasing her design prowess and research, marketing, and brand promotion abilities.

A prominent “View Project” button directs visitors to five curated projects on the landing page. Comprehensive case studies and intriguing prototype videos delve into each work, demonstrating her straightforward and practical design process. The inclusion of glowing testimonials, or “high fives,” from previous collaborators and team members highlights her personal flair, articulates her brand, and further substantiates her UX/UI design abilities.

2. Ljubomir Bardžić

Freelance UX/UI designer ​​Ljubomir Bardžić ’s portfolio balances minimalist design with aesthetics. Using a classic black-and-white theme, he strategically deploys vibrant color accents to draw attention to his various projects, displaying them with clarity and precision. His portfolio pieces include client feedback to affirm his work’s impact, user journey mapping, and wireframes to illustrate his ideation and design process.

The textual content leaves no room for ambiguity. He succinctly communicates his service offerings — web design, UX/UI design, and Webflow development services — to reinforce his value proposition. Blending simplicity and directness, Bardžić’s portfolio offers a rewarding, expositional experience for visitors and potential clients.

​​ 3. Karolis Kosas

Product designer Karolis Kosas presents a minimalist approach to his portfolio that lets his design prowess shine through. A stark black-and-white color scheme subtly comes to life with the animated blinking eyes on the CUJO project, adding a touch of intrigue and whimsy to the site.

Each project piece provides a sleek, professional showcase of Karolis’ design process. Every meticulously curated detail guides visitors through each project stage. The side-by-side display of product design deliverables and images of the product in use illustrates how each step contributes to the final product. This thoughtful and thorough presentation mirrors the high caliber of Karolis’ design skills.

4. Pascal Strasche

When visitors land on the portfolio of Pascal Strasche , a seamless blend of professionalism and personal flair greets them. Harmonizing color schemes underscore comprehensive project presentations, each one narrating the behind-the-scenes story of his design journey.

In a refreshing twist, Pascal discloses his personal manifesto — a clear outline of his ambitions and values — symbolizing the depth of investment in his brand. He also doesn’t leave his skill mastery to conjecture; Pascal quantifies his expertise in UI design, web design, and visual design with percentage numbers on his Skills page.

His articulate and direct approach fosters trust and reliability. By integrating his unique personality and UX/UI expertise, he creates a genuinely individualized portfolio that demonstrates his design acumen and personal ethos.

5. Vicky Marchenko

Landing on Vicky Marchenko’s portfolio feels like a warm welcome from a friend. The playful paper plane animation and friendly “hey there” expression deliver a sense of personal connection. Her consistent use of a comforting purple and white theme furthers this inviting atmosphere.

Visitors will find comprehensive and transparent case studies as they delve into her projects pages. From project overviews to specific deliverables and examples of final designs, Vicky makes everything clear. Her footer invites users to enter their name, email address, and a message, offering a clear line of communication to make collaborating with her simple.

Build and visually design a full portfolio website — completely free. This course covers everything from the basics of grid and flexbox to advanced interactions and accessibility work.

Enter Michael Kochenburger’s UX portfolio, branded as KOCO , and a wide-eyed animated robot instantly greets users. This engaging character doesn’t merely decorate the site — it ushers visitors through it, making for an immersive and welcoming journey.

Moving into the project pages, Michael’s design skills shine. He arranges information aesthetically, splitting each section of text with images displaying his work.

Beyond the visually engaging design, he also includes the project’s objectives, challenges, ideation, and final deliverables, clearly demonstrating his systematic approach. Michael also hides some of his work behind a password-protected vault, labeled as his “top-notch stuff.” This strategic mystery stirs curiosity, a powerful tool for attracting potential clients.

7. Olga Rody

Large text and a minimalist design take center stage on Olga Rody’s sleek portfolio homepage. She displays her projects in a large grid, featuring images from each work to subtly inform visitors of what to expect before they click, accompanied by a natural color scheme that prioritizes accessibility with its excellent contrast.

Clicking into one of her projects, Olga clearly defines her role upfront. As visitors scroll, she introduces a variety of design deliverables such as journey maps, wireframes, and prototypes, painting a comprehensive picture of the design process.

Her portfolio isn’t just a collection of pretty pictures, however. She includes measurable outcomes, such as usability testing results and survey answers, to showcase her impact as a designer. This focus on results paired with her visually pleasing design aesthetic encapsulates her dedication to the UX design craft.

8. Ryan C. Robinson

Switching it up with a burst of color, Ryan C. Robinson ’s portfolio gives a vivid twist to modern minimalist design. His projects pop off the screen as visitors scroll through, breaking away from the standard 2D design approach and introducing 3D elements.

Each of his project pages balances descriptive content with stimulating visuals, ensuring complete understanding of his design process. His focus tags for each project are particularly useful — wireframing, mobile, UX, or visual design — providing an efficient reference point for potential clients or employers looking for examples of specific skill sets. His approach showcases a unique blend of creativity and meticulousness, demonstrating his versatility as a UX designer.

Web designer Gina Yu imbues her portfolio with a natural color theme, offering a refreshing departure from conventional product design portfolios. Her introduction, starting with “Hey fellow human bean!” sets a lighthearted tone and underscores her ambition to craft a more human and empathetic world.

Navigating to her Work page, the spotlight first falls on her most recent project, with four other past undertakings trailing closely under in a simple grid layout. She populates each case study with detailed process narratives and captivating, interactive prototypes. In an innovative move, she embeds a functional prototype on a graphic representation of a Mac screen for her Outback Bikes project, offering visitors a realistic perspective on user interaction.

10. Dirkjan Kraan

Opting for a human-centric approach, Dirkjan’s Kraan’s portfolio first introduces him as a person, not solely a professional. His role as a UX designer becomes apparent after scrolling past his welcoming headshot image and simple greeting: “I am a UX designer creating meaningful digital experiences.”

Dirkjan allows his designs to voice his skills as visitors explore his work. His minimally worded case studies and prominent design deliverables demonstrate his high-level abilities. Throughout his portfolio, he highlights design elements he created — buttons, search bars, and headers — to articulate his UI mastery.

Show off your talents with a UX portfolio

​​Your design portfolio is likely the first impression you make on potential clients and employers, so it must stand out. While aesthetics contribute to the “wow” factor, it’s equally important to highlight your relevant expertise.

If you’re seeking further guidance, consider taking Webflow’s 21-day portfolio course to create a new portfolio or upgrade an existing one. You can also browse our essential UX design tips and tricks for inspiration and ideas.

Curating your top projects and revealing your distinct approach to problem solving can be an unexpectedly fulfilling aspect of crafting your UX portfolio. Not only do you get to demonstrate your ability, you also get to reflect on your personal growth and journey in the field.

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10 UX/UI Design Portfolio Examples to Inspire You (Updated for 2024)

Explore these unique, standout UX/UI design portfolio examples from UX Academy graduates who landed new jobs in the field of product design.

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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.

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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. Jane Noh

Jane's portfolio stands up for its bold color palette, strong research, and attention to detail. Using vibrant imagery and font choices across her work, Jane creates a portfolio that is incredibly visually dynamic.

Jane also has a background in education and brings what she learned from teaching to her UX design work. This shows particularly in products such as Domokos, a responsive project geared towards helping teach math—her area of expertise from when she was an educator herself.

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. Florinda Sgueglia

With high contrast colors and an easy-to-read case study layout, Flo’s design skills truly stand out in every part of this eye-catching, beautifully well-done portfolio. It's also clear to see that she has a background in graphic design, with fun, playful elements such as dynamic illustrations in her "About Me".

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. Celia Hazard

Celia takes a fresh and unconventional approach to the presentation of her UX materials. Calling herself a "design scientist", Celia's work is heavily rooted in strong research to back up her project work. There are some bold visual choices, and Celia's well laid out case studies are comprehensive but still scannable. This is an exciting portfolio showcasing a unique perspective on UX design.

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. Chofi Chang

Chofi's portfolio is a great study in how to display different types of projects without feeling fragmented. Chofi specializes in creating brand identity, and has project work across both UX and other types of design. The visual presentation showcases the various design projects, but still communicates a sense of cohesion.

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