Today we evaluate an interaction designer’s portfolio and UX work. Madison Green is a passionate product designer with a rich background in creating seamless mobile and web experiences for consumer-facing applications. She has 3+ years of experience, including working with Fortune 500 companies and dynamic startups. As usual I will highlight what UX recruiters and UX hiring managers look for when evaluating such a portfolio using emojis to indicate my emotions.
Let’s begin.
Takeaways:
Project headings need to be clear and understandable. Potentially incorporate the result into the heading for it to stand out.
What you name your project heading on the landing page should carry across into the detail view otherwise the recruiter will think they are in the wrong place.
Provide clear imagery for project thumbnails if it’s a screen shot. It’s better to have a zoomed in image that shows features rather than a group of screens that are too small to show features.
Annotate wireframes and visual designs so that a recruiter knows what they are looking at.
Avoid text heavy paragraphs which can be daunting to read for a recruiter. Instead highlight key points by bolding text or through use bullet points.
This article is for aspiring designers who are still creating a strong introduction to their UX or UI portfolio. You may be struggling with how to summarize who you are and what your skills are on your resume, LinkedIn profile, personal portfolio website or even your social media page.
In this article I am going to share with you 50 examples of proven design portfolio introductions from designer hires from Google, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Apple, Spotify, Airbnb, and Amazon. Alot of these examples are from portfolio websites and resumes and we will dissect when to use one. I am also going to explain why it is important to have a great portfolio introduction and the basic structure of one.
Why is it important to have a strong design portfolio introduction?
Firstly, this is definitely what a recruiter is going to read and evaluate first as a potential indicator to whether they should hire you. A portfolio introduction that is vague or incorrect about the person or their skills raises red flags and doubt in the recruiter’s mind from the start and sets the tone for the rest of the interaction with your work. A bad first impression could ultimately hurt your chances of landing a dream job.
Secondly, as a designer you need to be able to sell your skills, your passion and your personality well enough for a potential recruiter to buy into you. People see selling as a bad word but it ultimately makes life easier if you know how to do it. When it relates to your design career you will be ask to not only sell or persuade people on your skills, your ideas and leadership. Look at your portfolio introduction as a concise but holistic statement that you want the marketplace to know about you.
Side note: Obviously portfolio introductions are one part of building a strong first impression with recruits. If you want to learn about enhancing your case studies as well, read this article.
I have grouped the examples into three types of design portfolio introductions based on length. Which one to use depends on the platform that the introduction will be on. In certain cases like a resume, it needs to be brief but on your personal website or LinkedIn profile you can stretch it out abit more.
Basic structure of a good portfolio introduction
The key elements of this type of design portfolio introduction answers the following questions: – Who are you – What you do – Where you work – Which city you are from – What you are passionate about
There are no hard or fast rules to how to structure your personal portfolio introduction but addressing 2 to 3 of these questions will go a long way. As you will see in the following examples, answering those questions creates a strong first impression for your work.
Let’s get started.
1. Short and punchy intro (6 to 15 words)
Josh Mateo, Spotify Senior Product Designer at Spotify in New York
Josh Mateo
Will Chan, Facebook Product Designer at Facebook.
Vera Chen, Facebook Hello, I’m Vera Chen. I create Better Experiences for Users/ People
Hiroo Aoyama, Facebook I’m Hiroo, a product designer. Incoming Product Design Intern at Facebook.
Shelby Lindblad , Facebook Multi-disciplinary designer in Oakland, CA
Jason Yuan, Apple Graphic and User Experience designer currently based in Providence.
Sanat Rath, Google Hi, I’m Sanat. I make word processors delightful at Google Docs.
Sophie Gardner, Google Product designer, formerly at Google and Palantir.
Wei Huang, Google I’m Wei, a User Experience designer at Google
Tiffany Wu, Google Hi! I’m Tiffany Wu, a designer passionate about bridging gaps between people and their goals.
Simon Pan, Amazon Simon Pan is a Product Designer based in San Francisco.
Christopher Michon, Amazon Christopher Michon is an Art Director who is designing & illustrating in Seattle.
Tobias Ahlin, Spotify I design, tinker & teach.
Hold Breton, Spotify A product designer who values durability, transparency & cadence.
2. Meaty intro (18 to 31 words)
John West, Uber Hello, I’m John. I’m a Designer in San Francisco & I do UI, UX, branding, animation, packaging and print.
Xiaoxue Zhang , Uber Currently working at Uber, focusing on Machine Learning and Design System. Previously working as a front-end developer at Tencent for 3 years.
Bre Huang, Uber I’m Pre, a process-driven product designer and illustrator on a quest to make smart, friendly and impactful experiences for people. Joining Uber Feb 19.
Xiaoxue Zhang , Uber Currently working at Uber, focusing on Machine Learning and Design System. Previously working as a front-end developer at Tencent for 3 years.
Cas Lemmens, Apple I’m Cas Lemmens. I design systems. I work as a Human Interface Designer at Apple. Previously Spotify and Hyper Island.
Hailey Cook, Apple I’m a mission driven designer looking for new opportunities in San Francisco. Check out my work and say hello!
Jesse Chase, Airbnb Jesse chase is a product designer in san Francisco, currently Sr. Experience Designer at Airbnb.
Keith Ahn, Airbnb Hi, I’m a designer based in San Francisco. I’m currently a Product Designer at Airbnb. Former Product Designer at Venmo.
Ismael Barry, Airbnb Product Designer passionate about serving people by solving for their needs and understanding the gravity of those decisions as they Impact our world.
Moneta Ho Kushner, Google I am creative director and designer from Seattle, passionate about building digital experiences that improve customers’ lives.
Alex Lakas
Alex Lakas, Google I’m Alex, a product designer at Google. Over a decade of experience focusing on desktop, mobile, social gaming, e-commerce, & early stage product design.
Rahul Jain, Google I’m a Product designer focused on creating design concepts and experiences that empowers people and solve real-world problems.
Carson Young, Google Hi! I’m Carson, a digital product designer. Former UX Design Intern at Google. Student at York Sheridan Design.
Abbey Lee, Amazon Hey Hey, I’m Abbey I’m a visual problem solver and user experience designer who has a passion from motion, visual design, human-centred goodness and the outcome.
Angela Bang, Amazon Meet Angela. Living and working in the intersection of design and tech — still wants to be an astronaut when grown up.
Brian Lee, Spotify My name is Brian. I am a digital product designer, born in Singapore, based in Stockholm, Sweden. I currently work at Spotify, with a focus on growth and activation.
Tal Midyan, Spotify Tal is a multidisciplinary designer and creative based in nYC. Currently working at Spotify as Senior Art Director. Here is a collection of projects for different artists and brands.
Andres Arbelaez, Spotify Hey! I’m Andres. Incoming Product Designer at Facebook and CoLab Fellow at IDEO. I study Human-Centered Product Design at the University of Maryland.
Amruta Buge, Spotify Amruta is an Interaction Designer at Google interested in crafting effective design solutions to create meaningful user experiences.
Mohit Gupta, Facebook A product designer with a focus in user experience, visual and interaction design. Previously at Facebook and Universe. Currently looking for full-time opportunities.
Hailey Cook, Apple I’m a mission driven designer looking for new opportunities in San Francisco. Check out my work and say hello!
Kathleen Warner, Facebook Oh hello there, I’m Kathleen. I’m a product designer who sometimes jumps into frontend. Currently on News Feed at facebook.
Julia Liang , Apple I’m glad you’re here! I’m a designer, artist, and activewear enthusiast based in Berkeley. Thank you for taking the time to view my work!
Netta Marshall, Airbnb Hello stranger, I’m Netta, a digital designer living in San Francisco. Let’s take a look at what I’ve been creating.
Sally Chan, Spotify Hello! I’m a designer at the intersection of physical and digital products and services. I do that by making connections out of seemingly disparate ideas to create something meaningful for people.
3. Detailed but relevant intro (34 to 70 words)
Andre Salver, Facebook I’m a strategy-minded product designer, passionate about designing for emerging technologies, developing wide applications for those technologies and bringing them to market. Also a recent graduate of MHCI+D and Product Designer at Facebook.
Nisa Andrews, Uber I’m an independent decentralised apps designer and product designer at Uber. I’m passionate about solving problems for humans, particularly where physical and digital worlds meet. Peep my work below or learn more about me.
Ben Minard, Apple My name is Ben Minard and I am a UI/UX designer at Apple Inc, in Cupertino, California. I recently graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BFA in Graphic Design. Feel free to drop me an email at khdfkd@gmail.com and check out my work on Dribbble.
Craig Dehner
Craig Dehner, Apple I’m Craig Dehner, and I help companies enhance their mobile experience through smart UI design and motion. Between working on the Human Interface team at Apple, to cutting edge startups like Airbnb and Lyft, the interfaces I’ve worked on have reached millions.
Eric Lobdell, Airbnb Bay Area designer passionate about problem solving exposing and building consumer facing products. Currently designing a new typeface, hand-lettering, and collecting vinyl, I’ve poured my heart into many startups and worked at a handful of great companies: Google, MLB, Opera and #M. You can find more of my work on Dribbble. If you’ve got an exciting challenge and you’d like to work together, let’s talk.
Kaiwei Wang, Google As a designer, I try my best to make sure the design decisions are the results of a human-centred process. I keep learning new tools and trends while telling myself — the user gives the most valuable insights and the team is my strongest backbone.
Kevin Chang, Google Hey, I’m Kevin I’m a product designer & engineer with skills and experiences that allow me to take ideas from concept to mock to prototype to production.
Formerly AR & VR at Google Daydream, design at Google Lens, product at BayRu. Computer Science and creative writing at Stanford University.
Yuan Gu, Amazon Hello, I am Yuan
I am currently a UX Designer at Amazon. I have worked on a variety of projects on different platforms including but not limited to iOS, Android, Windows, etc. The best part of my job is to work the design magic around customer’s needs and seeking the balance between usability and aesthetics. This is a showcase of the projects I’ve worked on and hope you will enjoy it.
Samuel Hoang, Amazon I am a product designer crafting the future of user experiences for consumer devices and services. This is my portfolio of publicly released work. Many of my current and past projects cannot be included here due to Non-Disclosure Agreements.
Conclusions and takeaways
Feel free to try different portfolio intros. Don’t feel boxed into one format but try what suits you at that point in time. To conclude your design portfolio introduction should answer the following questions: – Who are you – What you do – Where you work – Which city you are from – What you are passionate about
What to do next
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You may be wondering how should you organize a large amount of project information in a case study so that it isn’t overwhelming to recruiters? What information is vital to include in a portfolio case study? Or maybe you are just struggling to bringing together your wireframes, strategies and sections into a clean, attractive narrative. Don’t worry this article is for you.
I recently shared a UX case study example in the previous article that described how to use the free UX Portfolio Case Study template to rapidly create comprehensive case study for your design portfolios from scratch.
The free UX Portfolio Case Study template is based on over 60 portfolios of successful design hires from Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Twitter, Apple, Google, LinkedIn, Dropbox and the insights of top design recruiters from around the world.
What you are going to learn
Today I want to walk you through another UX case study example on how you can use the UX Portfolio Case Study template from scratch, to create a UX case study for your UX portfolio. We will walk through the creation of each section, step by step so that you can replicate the process for your cases studies.
The project
The UX portfolio project I will use is one I did as a Senior UX Designer at a digital marketing agency. The brief was to completely redesign a responsive web platform for one of the leading investment firms in South Africa, Alexander Forbes. I worked with a project manager, a UI designer, a back-end developer and a front-end developer.
Final design
I did the work some time ago so the challenge becomes trying to remember what I did and collecting enough content for a solid case study. This is where the template comes in handy.
The secret sauce: The core idea is to try to separate your case study creation process into a writing component and designing component so that you can tackle each one without getting stuck or overwhelmed.
The template ensures that your case study has a good project narrative and understandable structure.
This also allows you to plan more effectively what design artifacts you will need in your case study. It’s a system by which you can then rapidly roll out multiple case studies without forgetting anything that’s relevant to a recruiter or client.
In case you did not read the previous article, the UX Portfolio Case Study template has 8 critical sections that recruiters are looking for.
UX Portfolio Case Study template sections
1. Project Title & Subtitle
A headline and subtitle that indicates the name and goal of the project
2. Client/Company/Project type
Who was the project for
3. Project date
When did you work on the project
4. Your role
What you were responsible for on the project
5. Project Summary/About this Project
An overview that summarizes the project, goal and results
6. The challenge
What specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points that the project solves. Were there any technical constraints or business KPIs you had to keep in mind? Who are you users and what are their specific needs
7. Solution
What method/process were used to solve specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points? How did features address the objectives?
Making it as concise and easy as possible to digest
Now writing and condensing long texts for these sections can be very challenging. I have included how long each section should be so that you have a guide to your writing length. Let’s walk through each section of the UX Portfolio Case Study template and fill it in.
UX Case Study Example 2
1. Project Title & Subtitle
Length: Project Title (1 line) & Subtitle (1–2 lines)
This one is pretty straightforward. I used the name we had for the project at the agency. I generally like to use the client’s brand name as it is recognizable to recruiters and brief enough to fit any case study cover. I also added a sub-title to further explain what was built for the client and give more context around the project title.
2. Client/Company/Project type
Length:1 line
Unless stated in the title, this helps build more context to who the project was for. This was a commercial project for a client so I wrote the name of the client’s brand.
3. Project date/duration
Length:1 line
When or how long the project was helps the recruiter establish whether this is your most recent work and most importantly, to gauge where your skill level is. Always try to put up work that is recent because it’s an accurate reflection of your skills. This one was a bit of an old one that I had not drafted a case study for.
4. Your role
Length:1–2 lines
This is a section to state everything you did and were responsible for. Recruiters are looking to accurately assess your skills in the context of the entire project’s execution. I state that I was the Senior UX Designer on the project then briefly note down all the activities I did for the project over the course of several months. If you worked with someone on the project make sure to state it.
5. Project Summary
Length: 1–2 paragraphs
This is a critical section for any reader who does not have a lot of time to read through the entire case study but wants a brief summary of the project, goals, and results. They may be going through a stack of applications and only have a few minutes to scan over one or two projects in your portfolio.
I have kept my summary to three long sentences. The first is the context of the brand. The second touches on the challenge and problem we were attempting to solve. And the last sentence describes the platform this is being built for.
6. The Challenge/Problem
Length: 2–3 paragraphs
This section specifically looks at the problems the project is trying to address. While keeping this paragraph concise I dive into the details of the problem that the client and their user were experiencing. If you are struggling with this part, take a look at your client’s original project brief. The problem you set out to solve will be stated under objectives.
7. The Solution
Length: As long as needed
This is the longest and more time consuming section to fill in depending on how long ago the project was and how fresh in your mind it still is. For this section I outlined the design process steps and methods followed during the project. I wrote down the high level project steps but at this point I am already thinking of the the relevant design artifacts recruiters might want to see. Everything that I produced from sketches to visual mockups to prototypes.
8. Results
Length: 1 paragraph
The critical last section concludes the case study by outlining any project success metrics that were achieved. I was fortunate that we wanted to report back to the client how well the site had performed so this information was dug up from the Google Analytics tracking. In most cases clients are happy with just a launch and its really up to you to follow up and get the project impact.
Okay, now that we have filled in our UX Portfolio Case Study template we can move on to getting our design artifacts together. I am happy with the content I put down and importantly, I have not missed any section.
Putting it together
This part is really up to you and how you tackle it is going to depend on where you are going to host your UX case study. If you have a portfolio site you can put the text we just typed down on a page and fill in the gaps with images and project artifacts.
I have a Behance account where I house my projects and merely need to upload images and write the text in, then publish the portfolio. Taking it a step further I integrate the text and imagery in Sketch/Photoshop than just purely uploading the project’s web screenshots.
If you would like to use my Behance layout your can check out my portfolio kit with pre-made, fully customizable professional artboards for every section of a portfolio.
Key things that I always like to include in my case studies to make them more interactive and engaging:
Brand imagery to create a more immersive narrative
A prototype/GIF of the final solution
UX Case Study Folder structure
I like to create a folder structure for housing everything I will need as follows.
Client brief (Optional)
Website screenshots (Screenshots of the final website)
Behance submission (Final design exports for Behance upload)
Wireframe screenshots (Wireframe and UI designs exports in here)
Here are some of the final case study design screens with the text we filled out in the UX Portfolio Case Study template.
The intro has most of our UX case study sections covered in one go. Super important for recruiters without a lot of time.
The About and challenge sections come directly after that.
Then we can dive into the work. Here is a tiny bit of the Solution section showcasing a wireframe and UI design.
And lastly the results to round off the case study.
Here is the link to my portfolio and the full project.
What to do next
If you really enjoy this article and would like to get down to work, download my UX Portfolio Case Study template for free. Its included with the Design Portfolio Layout Guide, which includes 20 online case studies and example scripts for each case study section.
How to fill in the UX Portfolio Case Study template from scratch and I will use an example UX case study from my portfolio.Read more
UX Portfolio Case Study template (plus examples from successful hires)
Your portfolio is the most critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to selling your design skills to recruiters and clients. It’s the single most vital component of any design career move you will ever make. A UX case study is a detailed but summarized presentation of a design project, its goals and objectives, […]Read more
How to fill in the UX Portfolio Case Study template from scratch and I will use an example UX case study from my portfolio.
In my last article, I shared the free UX Portfolio Case Study templatethat I developed based on over 60 portfolios of successful design hires from Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Twitter, Apple, Google, LinkedIn, Dropbox and the insights of top design recruiters.
We explored what recruiters look for in UX job applications/portfolios and then dived into successfully structuring any UX case study, even conceptual projects.
What you are going to learn
Today I wanted to go a step further and walk you through how to fill in the UX Portfolio Case Study template from scratch and I will use an example UX case study from my portfolio.
UX Case Study example
The core idea is to try to break down your case study creation process into a writing component and designing component so that you can tackle each one without getting stuck or overwhelmed.
ux case study example
The template ensures that your case study has a good narrative and understandable structure.
This also allows you to plan more effectively what design artifacts you will need in your case study. It’s a system by which you can then rapidly roll out multiple case studies without forgetting anything that’s relevant to a recruiter or client.
The UX Portfolio Case Study template has 8 critical sections that recruiters are looking for.
UX Portfolio Case Study template sections
1. Project Title & Subtitle
A headline and subtitle that indicates the name and goal of the project
2. Client/Company/Project type
Who was the project for
3. Project date
When did you work on the project
4. Your role
What you were responsible for on the project
5. Project Summary/About this Project
An overview that summarizes the project, goal and results
6. The challenge
What specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points that the project solves. Were there any technical constraints or business KPIs you had to keep in mind? Who are you users and what are their specific needs
7. Solution
What method/process were used to solve specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points? How did features address the objectives?
The UX portfolio project I will use is one I did as a Senior Designer at a digital marketing agency. The brief was to create a responsive website/microsite for an annual financial publication for an Asset Management company.
Now let’s walk through each section of the UX Portfolio Case Study template and fill it in.
1. Project Title & Subtitle
Length: Project Title (1 line) & Subtitle (1–2 lines)
This one is pretty simple. I used the name we had for the project at the agency. It’s brief enough to fit any case study cover but does show the brand name, and the nature of the product, a journal. I added a sub-title to further explain what the heading means, and give more context around the project title.
2. Client/Company/Project type
Length:1 line
Unless stated in the title, this helps build more background to who the project was for. This was a commercial project for a client so I wrote the name of the client’s brand.
3. Project date/duration
Length:1 line
When or how long the project was helps the recruiter establish whether this is your most recent work and most importantly, to gauge where your skill level is. Always try to put up work that is recent because it’s an accurate reflection of your skills. This one was a bit of an old one that I had not drafted a case study for.
4. Your role
Length:1–2 lines
This is a section to state everything you did and were responsible for. Recruiters are looking to accurately assess your skills in the context of the entire project’s execution. I state that I was the Senior UX Designer on the project then note down all the activities I did on a high level, for the project over the course of several months.
5. Project Summary
Length: 1–2 paragraphs
This is a critical section for any reader who does not have a lot of time to read through the entire case study but wants a brief summary of the project, goals, and results. They may be going through a stack of applications and only have a few minutes to scan over one or two projects in your portfolio.
I have kept my summary to three long sentences. The first is the context of the brand. The second touches on the challenge and problem we were attempting to solve. And the last sentence addresses how we would know we had done a good job.
6. The Challenge/Problem
Length: 2–3 paragraphs
This section specifically looks at the problems the project is trying to address. While keeping this paragraph concise I dive into the details of the problem that the client and their user were experiencing.
7. The Solution
Length: As long as needed
This is the longest and more time consuming section to fill in depending on how long ago the project was and how fresh in your mind it still is. For this section I outlined the design process steps and methods followed during the project. I wrote down the high level project steps but at this point I am already thinking of the the relevant design artifacts recruiters might want to see. Everything that I produced from sketches to visual mockups to prototypes.
8. Results
Length: 1 paragraph
The critical last section concludes the case study by outlining any project success metrics that were achieved. I was fortunate that we wanted to report back to the client how well the site had performed so this information was dug up from the Google Analytics tracking. In most cases clients are happy with just a launch and its really up to you to follow up and get the project impact.
Okay, now that we have filled in our UX Portfolio Case Study template we can move on to getting our design artifacts together. I am happy with the content I put down and importantly, I have not missed any section.
Putting it together
This part is really up to you and how you tackle it, is going to depend on where you are going to host your UX case study. If you have a portfolio site you can use the template content on a site page and fill in the gaps with images and project artifacts.
I have a Behance account where I house my projects and merely need to upload images and write the text in, then publish the portfolio. Taking it a step further I integrate the text and imagery in Sketch/Photoshop then just upload the images.
How to enhance your UX Case Study
Key things that I always like to include in my case studies to make them more interactive and engaging:
A video or gif of the final product
A prototype
Brand imagery to create immersive narrative
UX Case Study Folder structure
I like to create a folder structure for housing everything I will need as follows.
RAW ( I collate screenshots of the final project, UI designs and wireframe exports in here)
Images (Relevant visual imagery that can be interlaced between project sections)
Videos (Optional. In most cases there won’t be one)
Behance submission (Final design exports for Behance upload)
Here are some of the final design screens with the text we filled out in the UX Portfolio Case Study template. Go to this link to view the full case study.
The intro has most of our UX case study sections covered in one go. Super important for recruiters without a lot of time.
The About and challenge sections come directly after that.
Then we can dive into the work. Here is a tiny bit of the Solution section showcasing a wireframe and UI design.
And lastly the results to round off the case study.
Here is the link to my portfolio and other UX case studies.
If you would like to get down to work, download my UX Portfolio Case Study template for free. Its included with the Design Portfolio Layout Guide, which including 20 online case studies and example scripts for each case study section.
You may be wondering how should you organize a large amount of project information in a case study so that it isn’t overwhelming to recruiters? What information is vital to include in a portfolio case study? Or maybe you are just struggling to bringing together your wireframes, strategies and sections into a clean, attractive narrative…Read more
UX Portfolio Case Study template (plus examples from successful hires)
Your portfolio is the most critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to selling your design skills to recruiters and clients. It’s the single most vital component of any design career move you will ever make. A UX case study is a detailed but summarized presentation of a design project, its goals and objectives, […]Read more
Your portfolio is the most critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to selling your design skills to recruiters and clients. It’s the single most vital component of any design career move you will ever make.
UX Case Study template
A UX case study is a detailed but summarized presentation of a design project, its goals and objectives, the research methods used, the process to find a solution and the results achieved.
I hope to share with you a UX portfolio Case Study template for making your portfolio simpler and less overwhelming with the aim of getting you a job interview and potentially a higher paying job. I happen to have stumbled upon it through trial and error but it has resulted in me being headhunted for my last three Senior roles in UX at two agencies and a product company.
My portfolio on Behance.net
But first let’s start at the beginning.
When I was trying to design my portfolio, I used to spend countless hours digging up relevant work from past projects, downloading a ton of device mockups, and implementing every tactic from articles on portfolios that you can find.
The problem with that was it had been months and I was still not done. Every little inspiration I found, seemed to demand a new version. I also was not getting any interviews for the job I had applied for.
How long should a portfolio case study be? What should I include? I felt stuck and overwhelmed by every single detail.
The worst part was, I was not even sure if what I had was good enough to get an interview, let alone a job.
You know.
That queasy, gut-twisting anxiety in the pit of your stomach won’t go away no matter how much you tweak your portfolio.
By spending time studying other design portfolios of not just every designer but successful hires, I was finally able to come up with a system that covered what recruiters actually wanted to see.
Why the structure of a case study is important
Recruiters spend a short amount of time on each candidate’s portfolio, scanning for information in the case studies that relates to the role’s skills and responsibilities.
Recruiters don’t have time
To stress how each important your case study detail and layout is, let’s look at how two recruiter personas who have different business needs might look at the information provided in a designer’s case study.
Recruiter 1
Peter
CEO Works at small mobile app company, limited staff. Results orientated, only has 5 minutes to look through a portfolio. Looking for a freelancer/part-time designer.
A quick view of a candidate’s case study should answer: – Is their work relevant to what we do? – How much work did they do on a project – Can they work unsupervised? – Have they seen a project through to launch?
Recruiter 2
Dan
Creative Director Looking for a full-time designer Works for a large agency. Leads and supervises the design team. Process orientated, has time for a detailed case study.
A quick view of a candidate’s case study should answer – Is their work relevant to what we do? – Is this their most recent work and skills level – Do they understand what problem they were solving (big-picture thinking) -Did the solution solve the problem they sort out to address
These two recruiters require different forms of information and detail from your case study. It is up to you to make sure the case studies you create cover what they are looking for in order to land interviews.
Don’t just put a portfolio case study together and hope it will be good enough.
The secret to a portfolio case study that can get you an interview and explode your career opportunities lies in a creation process that is aligned with your audience’s needs.
That’s why I want to share with you this UX Portfolio Case Study template from UX Design Mastery. It is based on over 60 portfolios of successful design hires from Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Twitter, Apple, Google, LinkedIn, Dropbox and the insights of top design recruiters.
How do you write a UX case study
The secret sauce: The core idea is to try to separate your case study creation process into a writing component and designing component so that you can tackle each one without getting stuck or overwhelmed.
This template is meant to help outline all the text that is going to be in your case study that recruiters/clients are looking for.
This ensures that your case study has a good narrative and understandable structure. This also allows you to plan more effectively what design artifacts you will need in your case study. It’s a system by which you can rapidly roll out multiple case studies without forgetting anything that’s relevant to a recruiter or client.
The UX Portfolio Case Study template has 8 critical sections that recruiters are looking for.
UX Portfolio Case Study template
1. Project Title & Subtitle
A headline and subtitle that indicates the name and goal of the project
2. Client/Company/Project type
Who was the project for
3. Project date
When did you work on the project
4. Your role
What you were responsible for on the project
5. Project Summary/About this Project
An overview that summarizes the project, goal and results
6. The challenge
What specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points that the project solves. Were there any technical constraints or business KPIs you had to keep in mind? Who are you users and what are their specific needs
7. Solution
What method/process were used to solve specific problem, user needs, business requirements and/or pain points? How did features address the objectives?
Let’s look at these sections in detail, roughly how long each one should be and share some real life examples from successful hires.
1. Project Title & Subtitle
Length: Project Title (1 line) & Subtitle (1–2 lines)
A short concise headline that couples the name of the brand/application/client and goal of the project. A lot of designers tend to rush the naming of their project but it is crucial in capturing the attention of its reader. It is the first thing a recruiter is going to read to decide whether or not to carry on reading your UX case study. Make sure it is clear, understandable, and does not use technical jargon. The subtitle is optional but a great way to build more context around the Project title.
Abbey Lee, AmazonRachel Cheng, Facebook
2. Client/Company/Project type
Length:1 line
Unless stated in the title, this helps build more background to who the project was for. If the project was not a commercial project for a client or brand, this is where you can state that it was a conceptual project, a design challenge, or a practice project.
Mariah Ho, Apple
3. Project date/duration
Length:1 line
When or how long the project was helps the recruiter establish whether this is your most recent work and most importantly, to gauge where your skill level is. Always try to put up work that is recent because it’s an accurate reflection of your skills.
Bre Huang, Uber
4. Your role
Length:1–2 lines
This is a section to state everything you did and were responsible for. Recruiters are looking to accurately assess your skills in the context of the entire project’s execution. Did you work with a team, did you work unsupervised to create the project deliverables. Recruiters can make an informed decision about whether you will need help on the job or hit the ground running.
Pratibha Joshi, Sprinklr
5. Project Summary
Length: 1–2 paragraphs
This is a critical section for any reader who does not have a lot of time to read through the entire case study but wants a brief summary of the project, goals, and results. They may be going through a stack of applications and only have a few minutes to scan over one or two projects in your portfolio. Usually the first two. If nothing stands out or if the work is unclear then they will quickly move on.
Pratibha Joshi, Sprinklr
That covers the introductory part of your case study. Now we get to the body of the case study.
6. The Challenge/Problem
Length: 2–3 paragraphs
This section specifically looks at the problems the project is trying to address. What are the business requirements, user needs, pain points that the project solves? Who are the end-users and core target market? What platforms was the project for and where there any technical constraints or business KPIs you had to keep in mind?
Rachel Cheng, FacebookRahul Jain, Google
7. The Solution
Length: As long as needed
This section is going to be the longest as it showcases how the project goals where achieved. Firstly, outline the design process steps and methods followed during the project outlines the layout of this section. Show your overall project steps, why you chose the methods you used. Recruiters want to see all the relevant design artifacts that you produced from sketches to visual mockups to prototypes. Secondly, show how the project evolved through reviews and user feedback. I have put together a table that will hopefully guide your storytelling around each design deliverable. For each one speak on how the work evolved, was iterated on, or revised based on testing and stakeholder input.
Deliverable
Storytelling tips
Personas
Describe what data personas were based on, incorporating real quotes and behaviors to humanize user data
Sketches
Share the evolution of ideas through sketches, highlighting how initial concepts addressed specific user needs or problems.
Interview Notes
Present compelling user quotes and stories that reveal underlying needs or pain points, setting the stage for design decisions.
Usability Test Results
Tell the story of a user’s interaction, focusing on challenges faced and how design iterations improved their experience.
Whiteboards
Describe collaborative sessions, capturing the dynamic process of brainstorming and decision-making that led to design insights.
Wireframes
Explain how wireframes translated user needs into structured layouts, and how feedback informed subsequent iterations.
UI Designs
Discuss how visual elements align with user expectations and brand identity, enhancing usability and engagement.
Prototypes
Share scenarios where prototypes enabled user testing and feedback, leading to refinements that improved the final product.
Site Maps
Describe how the site map evolved to improve navigation and user flow, addressing specific usability challenges.
User Journeys
Walk through a user’s experience step-by-step, highlighting emotions and touchpoints that influenced design decisions.
Here are some examples for showing the overall process:
The critical last section concludes the case study by outlining any project success metrics that were achieved, awards that were won. Here are some example results that one commonly finds in a design portfolio and how you can phrase it.
Result Type
Example Impact
Improved Task Completion
Task success rate increased from 65% to 92% after redesign.
Reduced Drop-off
Checkout drop-off decreased by 30% after simplifying the form flow.
Increased Engagement
40% more users interacted with the feature after UI overhaul.
Faster Task Performance
Average time to complete task reduced from 3 min to 1.5 min.
User Satisfaction Boost
CSAT score increased from 3.2 to 4.5 post-launch.
Error Reduction
70% fewer user input errors after redesigning form validation.
Revenue Uplift
15% increase in conversions after improving product detail pages.
Support Load Decrease
25% drop in support tickets related to account setup after UX improvements.
Mobile Optimization Gains
Bounce rate on mobile dropped by 18% after responsive redesign.
Developer Handoff Speed
Reduced back-and-forth in dev handoff by 50% using component-based design.
In the case of a project that is not live, reflections and the project’s next steps are sufficient to round up the case study. Try to share any lessons that you learned to demonstrate you are invested in both the project’s life cycle and your career development.
Rachel Cheng, FacebookPratibha Joshi, Sprinklr
What you can do next
If you would like to get down to work, download my UX Portfolio Case Study template for free. Its included with the Design Portfolio Layout Guide, which including 20 online case studies and example scripts for each case study section.
How to fill in the UX Portfolio Case Study template from scratch and I will use an example UX case study from my portfolio.Read more
UX Case Study Example #2 plus free template
You may be wondering how should you organize a large amount of project information in a case study so that it isn’t overwhelming to recruiters? What information is vital to include in a portfolio case study? Or maybe you are just struggling to bringing together your wireframes, strategies and sections into a clean, attractive narrative…Read more
