The book by Ian Fenn
UX Portfolio Design
A practical guide for designers, researchers, content strategists, and developers
Since 2010, Ian has researched what hiring managers need from a UX portfolio. This book turns that research into an evidence-based method for getting you to the interview.
Inside the book
Contents
- The UX Portfolio: much-maligned & misunderstood Free
- Capturing your stories
- Understanding your users
- Designing for busy people Free
- Planning your UX Portfolio
- First impressions
- Storytelling with case studies
- Completing the picture
- Dealing with common constraints
- Evaluating your UX Portfolio
Plus three tools: the Portfolio Planner, the Case Study Canvas and the UX Portfolio Checklist.
Why read it?
Much of what’s written about UX portfolios is personal opinion. This book is built on research with designers, hiring managers and recruiters. Its starting point: you are not the user of your portfolio. The hiring manager is, and they give it 30 seconds or less.
It’s written for junior and senior designers, design managers, researchers, content strategists, UX writers and product managers. You’ll learn how to:
- keep a logbook so your stories are ready when you need them
- analyse job ads to find what hiring managers are looking for
- design for busy reviewers, with a fast track and a slow track
- write an introduction and case study titles that match the reviewer’s needs
- tell stories with case studies and Highlights, not galleries of deliverables
- deal with NDAs, limited experience and other common constraints
- get critique, not feedback, before you send it
Short on time?
UX Design Workbook
The core method from UX Portfolio Design, for when you only have a weekend.
4000+ candidates I’ve supported have gone on to work at
Amazon · Apple · BBC · Google · Microsoft · Shopify
Also from Ian
Impress UX portfolio template
The template that’s helped designers land roles at Amazon, Google and Shopify.