ePortfolios

Approach your portfolio like a UX design challenge. Use a human-centered approach, keeping in mind that hiring managers spend limited time reviewing it. Clearly present who you are, highlight one to three case studies, and provide your contact information and resume.

Researching other portfolios can help refine your own. Search for “Inspiring UX portfolios,” but be critical—some results may be portfolio software rather than real examples. Analyze what resonates with you to shape your style.

Finally, treat your portfolio as a living document. Update it regularly, share it with others, and seek feedback. Apply what’s useful to keep improving.

Many platforms offer free digital portfolio services, each with unique features. GitHub is the preferred professional platform, while others focus more on social media presence.

• Github
• Weebly
• Wordpress
• Dribble
• Cargo
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Coroflot
• Behance
• Sites at Penn State

Hiring managers want to understand your thought process and decision-making. They look for clear explanations of why you chose specific steps, processes, and information. Strong communication, openness to feedback, and the ability to learn from failure are just as important as design skills. Unlike in most classes, failure is a valuable learning tool.

Portfolios are reviewed quickly—within:

• 2 seconds they decide whether to look further or move on.
• 30 seconds they decide whether to consider you as a candidate.

Hiring managers don’t just want to see final designs, bullet-pointed design methods, or wireframes without context. They want to see the reasoning behind your choices and how you think as a designer.

Your personal statement should reflect your unique identity as a designer—your goals, values, strengths, and experiences. Like a story, it should capture who you are and what drives your work.

Keep your statement concise: a 1-2 sentence version should appear on your homepage. You can also include a longer 2-4 paragraph version, but distilling it to a few sentences is a great test of clarity.

Your statement should communicate:

• Where you are in your career
• Your core values as a designer
• Your goals
• Your unique perspective on UX design (e.g., technical prototyping, accessibility, business strategy, artistic talent, qualitative research)

Tell your story in a way that makes you stand out as a design professional.

Your case studies are the heart of your portfolio. Your case studies should tell a cohesive story that connects your visuals and explanations, demonstrating both your process and growth as a designer. Fewer, stronger case studies are far more effective than a larger number of weaker ones—one to three well-executed case studies is enough.

Each case study should balance showing (with pictures and graphics) and telling (by explaining what you did and what you learned). Captions and annotations ensure clarity and provide context for those unfamiliar with your work.

End with a reflection and acknowledge mistakes and failures as learning opportunities—just be specific about what you learned and how you applied it.

Key Elements of a Strong Case Study:

• Design domain overview
• Research (User research, market/design exemplar research)
• Design goals (What problem are you solving?)
• Ideation (Sketching, scenarios, personas, brainstorming)
• Prototyping and Testing (Low/high-fidelity prototypes, user testing)
• Insights and learnings (What did you do? Why? What did you learn? What’s next?)
• Reflections and post-mortem (What worked? What didn’t? What did you take away?)
• Giving credit (Acknowledge contributions, credit images properly)

• What is a UX portfolio and what should it contain?
• How to create a UX portfolio without UX experience
• Do's and don’ts of UX portfolios
• Interview resources