Writing is one of the important factors while building a strong UX portfolio. This scenario is based off of this article by Jeremy Navarro. You should always introduce clearly as many of the relevant parts of the process as possible. You must have checked your final design before launching it. The most important instrument we have designers to propel our career forward--to attract desirable jobs, clients and projects, lies in our ability to effectively showcase and explain the work that we've done. Introduce the project to the reader. Make sure to explain the problems precisely. The Quickest Way to Create Your UI/UX Portfolio Using Notion, 10 Exceptional Product Design Portfolios with Case Study Breakdowns | 2020. 3.3 Treat the UX case study as important as any other design challenge. It’s your job to articulate not just what you did, but why you did it. Something more specific provides a ton more clarity of your experience such as, “Home Depot User Research For Mobile App Checkout”. Problems are a key character in the plot of your case study. Yes, writing is not very easy but it’s not that difficult too. But the user of your UX portfolio has no idea because the project title was not clear. The most efficient way to write your case study is to start by creating it the moment you begin your project. She is a contributing author to InVision, UX Magazine, UX Mastery, UX Matters, and has been published in the New York Times. This UX case study describes a site that aims to make pet sitting more easily accessible for pet owners. Does their skillset align with our job requirements? This is where you’ll document the steps you took, just like documenting science experiments in high school. And milk. How you perform in the interviews is what will likely get you hired, but to get in the door for an interview, you need a solid portfolio. But it doesn’t reveal the specific area of focus within the product. You’ve probably been faced with the “blank canvas” problem when writing your UX case studies in the past. A UI/UX case study can range in detail, but is commonly used to showcase the intricacies of a designer's problem solving and visual design skills. This is the idea project title. So, you present the following issues—. An in-depth case study is a designers best chance of illustrating that. Maybe the best solution for you is just a simple PDF. Café Website gives its users a great experience by making it quick and easy to order a coffee online. If the project you are working on isn't being shipped and allowing you the ability to gather real world data then how do you show and communicate the value or outcome of what you're doing? This example is from the Tubikstudio blog, which is very popular among designers. What was the value that your work provided to the company. Which one of these did you find more interesting and effective? I’m gonna show you some useful and some crazy ways you can start gaining experience and going after the jobs you want even with little or in some cases no experience at all by taking a targeted approach. You have to write about how you go through the website to find the issues and what solutions you have chosen and why. Here’s a quick tip to check the accuracy of your case study using a simple trick — try writing the headings as slides of a presentation and see if it makes sense, if it does, the problem is solved and if it does not, then you must look into the writing again. Make sure to keep it clear, focused, and detailed. By literally writing out your UX case studies in a Google Doc first, you’ll become much clearer on what you might say as you get further down the UX job interview process. Don’t worry about sentence structure; just write and get it out of your head. Sarah is committed to helping people learn to think like a designer. [Insert user persona, empathy maps and result/outcome]. Writing an effective UX case study is not easy, but it’s worth it. For each section of the case study outline, write a single headline or sentence, except for the Process section. It sounds crazy, but it works. Above all, it shows what can be done with rich images, bright colors, clear layouts, and well-crafted personas. Now, you need to go back and start to pull the most important and relevant details from your case study and put them on each slide, as supporting details or evidence. So don’t let that spin you into Imposter Syndrome. This case study demonstrates effective ways to engage users with the Pasión brand and how a site can make it as easy as possible to turn page views into coffee sales. The bulk of what you write will be for the “Process and what you did” section. 10 Exceptional Product Design Portfolios with Case Study Breakdowns. But it doesn’t mean “just writing” a ux case study can work. 3.1 Document the entire process and not just the deliverables. And it will also limit your career options because your ability to write a strong case study is the foundation for creating a strong portfolio and doing well in interviews. For example, if a project didn’t have many constraints, don’t feel like you must invent or stretch some constraints, just to include it. You’ll get enamored with the “design” of these case studies and not actually consider the content and the story that each case study tells. Designers: Marina Yalanska and Vlad Taran. "Too runny," he would say, holding one hand on the panhandle and the other on my head. Whether you are documenting as you go or thinking back about what you did on a past project, the key is to capture not just what you are doing, but how you are doing it and most importantly the feelings anxieties and thoughts you had along the way, this is what will help you step back into the mindset that your were in when you were doing it and allow you to reflect on your process more accurately and easily. Consider that you might merge some bits of information into one slide. For example: show how you and your team communicate and collaborate effectively; demonstrate how you have developed ideas to address user problems; explain how you and your team have dealt with emergencies or mishaps. In the Case Study Number 1, you can see how this could have been written by any designer that simple spent a few hour reading up on the 'design thinking' process. It has received “claps” from over seven and a half thousand people and  is a perfect example of how to write a well-structured and easy-to-understand case study. Start your outline with the seven sections listed above, and start filling in bullet points under each section. This one comes from another hot media channel called "Muzli" which shares the latest ideas, designs, and interactions about websites or website apps from all over the world. The goal / objective you are trying to achieve, The challenges and constraints that you faced, Key metrics and how you measured your proximity to that goal / objective, The solution - Illustrate your method and process of solving the problem, show deliverables. Don’t miss out on this site if you want to stay ahead of the curve. Learn 10 easy changes to improve the UX of your portfolio so you can showcase your skills & experience. If you don’t have well-written UX case studies, then how can recruiters and hiring managers trust that you’ll be able to communicate what you did and why you did it if they hire you? This allowed us to more clearly define our target audience and relate to them and by making slight changes to our copy and tone, we were able to convert 5% more visitors to our signup page! It's too analytical and only focuses on data and metrics with no story. Cases studies from professionals and students who decide to share their process with the world. What would happen if you had a clear and powerful story to tell about each project in your UX portfolio? You should always take it seriously. 2.) How should it all be presented? For example, you might combine your overview and problem statement. There are two parts to being an effective communicator, your writing skills and ability to verbally discuss what you did. I'm Graham Walker UX Portfolio. Recently I noticed many new UX designers are asking how to do user experience design in the major social platform. So who do you want to work for? A great case study shows the level of your abilities as a designer; showcase how you thing; talk about your problem-solving approach, and give potential employers or clients an idea of what it might be like to get your services. So, it is a lot more than just a copy of everything you've done while designing the project. This UX design case study explains how the designer redesigned the Workaway App to make it easier for users. This is a food app design offering inspirational recipes for anyone who wants to eat healthier. Below are examples of content that could be for the Process section of the project. The main idea is to let the portfolio viewer understand the design decisions without having to explain. Best Time of Year to Apply for UI/UX and Product Designer Jobs. © Copyright 2020 DesignerUp. Here are a few UI/UX and Product Designer portfolios and case studies that I keep coming back to for reference and inspiration of best practices and creativity. The Outsized Cost of a Broken Design Process, Sarah Doody is a User Experience Designer, Entrepreneur, and Educator. A well-written UX case study tells the story of each project and represents how well you can communicate not just what you did, but why you did it. A good title will answer the following questions: Example: Uber App user research for app redesign. Be far more confident presenting your projects. Course Learning Objectives • Summarize, analyze, question, and evaluate written and visual texts • Argue and support a position • Recognize audience and disciplinary expectations • Identify and use the stages of the writing process • Identify characteristics of effective prose • Apply proper citation practices • Discuss applying your writing knowledge to other writing occasions Your portfolio, therefore, can’t simply be a curation of sexy-looking deliverables. You’re right, it probably is. The following steps will help you define that. My sister was rebellious. Prototyping our designs, sharing ideas, working together in an effective team, taking the process from design to handoff, it all works smoothly with this single tool. For a designer, our portfolio is the main way in which we do that. In most UX roles, you’ll find yourself not just doing the actual work, but explaining it over and over as stakeholders challenge your decisions and colleagues who may not be versed in design need a bit of help understanding the process. 3.2 Use your visual design skills to present the content in easy to read format. Every UX case study can be a good chance to practice and improve your design skills. At DesignerUp our students enjoy using Notion as their first step into creating their portfolio and case studies, it's kind of the best of all worlds. This is a concept project about a real local coffee shop in Miami. The Anatomy of a Large Experience Design Organization — 2.0, Contributing to Our Design System: The (Happy) Tale of Creating a New Component, Audio-Forward UX: Meeting Listeners Where They Are, Building a Design System? So how exactly do you go about capturing a case study and writing a narrative that connects? Write about the various possibilities of your project and document the constraints faced while doing the project, for example, timeline or budget. Writing case studies helps you to do the same. It may also help you realize that the project already feels like it’s too big, in which case you should consider breaking it up into multiple smaller projects so that you don’t overwhelm the user of your UX portfolio. “You helped me get my dream job! Perfect Recipe -UX design for cooking and shopping. It then talks to you through the detail of how the designers optimized the recruitment process. This is another concept mobile app that makes it easy for users to find parking slots even in big or overcrowded cities. Instead, it’ll likely launch you into Imposter Syndrome because you’ll fall head-first into the comparison vortex. Tell prospective employers or clients how this project added to your learning. When it comes to UX case studies, though, the quality of your writing is one of the most important variables in the success of your portfolio. Designer: Mustafa Aljaburi (UX, UI designer ). The trouble with being prescriptive is that there is no one right way or preferred way to do it. Everything is explained using intuitive images, earning it thousands of “likes”. According to Center Centre, the job growth of UX designers is expected to rise 22% over the next 10 years. Discussions with users discussion revealed that often times, products in one order have different shipping addresses, which was possible, but difficult in the current checkout. It is missing details, continuity and a sense of narrative. Writing an effective UX case study is not easy, but it’s worth it. You can download our 1-click Notion template used by our DesignerUp Product Design Master Course students that is getting them hired! This is why your UX portfolio can’t simply be a curation of sexy-looking deliverables. Although users were able to get through the checkout more quickly, they continued to struggle with the shipping section. So, how do you direct someone to make the prefect omelet? Keep in mind that a UX case study should touch all essential points in a clear and organized way. Don’t forget to mention the following things…, Read Also: Top 7 Techniques for Effective UX Research. Hi, I’m Sarah Doody, founder of The UX Portfolio Formula and I’m here to help you create an awesome UX portfolio so you can stand out and get your dream role. A design portfolio is a collection of projects that a designers has done. documenting your projects as you work on them. This version is much stronger because it goes beyond just talking about what was done. The big mistake that people make is not giving the project title enough detail, when a strong title can give context for the project. It’s subjective, so you decide! Our DesignerUp students are always looking to improve their portfolios. Music App shares the fancy UI and colors from a music app made for children. A title such as “Home Depot User Research” is a bit better. If you've already completed the project and are putting together your case study in reverse, there is a tendency to start by digging through our hard-drive trying to find copies of deliverables and trying to remember what the process was that you used to create them. Consider that you might merge some bits of information into one slide. This is a good example if you are looking to learn how to create an immersive case study with beautiful illustrations and colors. It’s a Google Doc so you’ll be able to make a copy and then start writing your own case studies. If not, then re-write your headlines—because if you want the users of your UX portfolio to quickly understand your project, those are the most important points. The outcomes and the lessons you’ve learned. So don’t let that spin you into Imposter Syndrome. Redesigning the New York Times app — a UX case study. This UX case study uses beautiful illustrations and colors to explain the entire design process. Here are some suggestions to follow: The final visual effect can be make-or-break for whether your UX case study is going to stand out from the crowd. This case study firstly points out the biggest challenges and problems faced by job-seekers—the shortage of US recruitment markets. In 2011, she created the curriculum for and taught General Assembly’s first 12-week UX immersive, the genesis of their popular UX programs which are now taught worldwide. Designer: Aiman Fakia (UX, UI, visual designer ). Step 1: Research your audience - If you are mainly trying to attract private freelance clients that need a specific user flow design they will be looking for different things than a small startup that wants to hire a junior UI/UX designer to work on their product team. For example, based on the above problems, you can present the solutions as given below—. A case study is an in-depth breakdown of a single project that a designer has done. Having done more design portfolio and case study reviews than I count now, I can always tell when someone has created a case study as an afterthought or tried to reverse engineer their work to suit some case study template, job description or example of what they think an ideal UI/UX case study should look like. Communication is a crucial skill for UX professionals. My grandfather always told me never to salt my eggs before they go in the pan. It regularly shares different branding, UI, and UX case studies. For example, show that you replaced the color scheme to the one that can go well with the elderly. Just like sending a resumé. Such silly mistakes can ruin a copy of your UX case study, no matter how efficiently you solved the problem. After doing at least 100 hours of my own research through talking to UX candidates one-on-one, reviewing portfolios, and analyzing survey data, one thing became clear: UX professionals put too much emphasis on learning how to make deliverables, and not enough on articulating their design decisions. This case study gives a clear demonstration of the entire UI/UX design process. Why is this good? So, in your conclusion, don’t forget to analyze the entire process and summarize the outcomes. Maybe you want to create a full website for your portfolio and case study on a CMS like WordPress or SquareSpace or perhaps you want to use a 3rd party app like Behance or Medium. How To Go After UI/UX Jobs WITHOUT Experience. 3.4 Respect the NDAs (if you signed any) while documenting the case study. Many aspects are included to help you understand it better, such as the design background, what to build, UI flow diagram, discoverability design, visual balance, and much more. At the end of the article, you’ll find some examples of effective UX case studies. This case study explains the differences in the mobile app’s appearance when it is applied on the Human Interface Guidelines (IOS) and Material Design Guidelines (Android).   |  2020-09-27, One platform for design, prototype, hand-off and design systems - Plans that scale with your team, Desktop prototyping tool - Simple plans for everyone, Design faster with ready-to-use prototype templates and UI kits for web and mobile apps, A huge collection of UX/UI design resources and inspirations will help you design better. Step 4: Write the UX case study using only headlines, A quick word of caution, yes, it looks good. It is one of the best examples we have found of a case study that really teaches you how to write the perfect UX case study. The next day I did another interview and this time I let the user tell me their story. With well written case study you will be able to build confidence in your target audience. Mockplus, is an online product design platform, enabled us to adapt quickly and effectively to working from home during the recent Coronavirus lockdown. documenting your projects as you work on them, Seriously, you need to start documenting your UX work, 4 steps for choosing the right projects for your UX portfolio, How to create a UX portfolio without UX experience, The role of case studies in your portfolio, The steps to writing a thorough, readable case study. Many aspects of the process are included, along with some really inspirational ideas, such as product personalization, challenges and solutions, animated interactions, and other interface details. She is always cheerful and never gives up. When approaching your UX portfolio and case studies, my advice is: think like a lawyer. But promise me that you’ll read this article first. It’s too vague and provides no insight into what actually happened. Step 2: Define your audience persona - In order to make sure your persona is aligned with your audience's needs it can be help to define a persona that clearly states their problem and what they are looking for in a designer. We believe designers are thinkers as much as they are makers. This is a mobile app that can help people get parking slots easily even when they travel beyond their normal routes. So before you jump to the UX case study examples below, do yourself a huge favor and read the steps below to structure and write your UX case studies. Thus, it is important for the aspirants to understand that articulating the design decisions are as important as curating deliverables because it is one of the key demands of the UX Professional’s role. Normally, the issues I see fall into 1 or more of the following categories: The most effective case studies I've seen are the ones in which the designer is able to really capture the circumstance in which the project unfolded; their experience, their struggles, the relatable moments that happened while they were working on it and most importantly-- the outcome and the value of that outcome. Project type and Role: Personal project, UX/UI Designer. UX is a hot field, and there’s a lot of competition. Let’s say you’re working in Keynote with slides, your process will look like this: Simon Pan’s UX portfolio website went viral because he had awesome case studies. Now, you need to go back and start to pull the most important and relevant details from your case study and put them on each slide, as supporting details or evidence. With this observation, we carried out research on users’ reading habits and also gathered information on why conventional style of book reading is better than “screen” reading and hence developed the app, considering the outcome of the research. A step-by-step guideline about how to create a UX case study is also followed. Prototype, design, collaborate, and design systems all in Mockplus. Job Portal App has been specially made for designers and freelancers. So, before you start writing a UX design case, you should first figure out in detail what its purpose is. But remember, what you wrote in your Google Doc is not going to all make its way to your actual UX portfolio. These degree programs are quite diverse, and my coursework has focused on user experience (UX) research and design. Brief: Timely provide to quick read articles from 2–5 mins. To date with the website to find the right course article by Jeremy Navarro peers solve similar issues present! 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