Your mobile design portfolio is more than just a collection of screenshots and links. It's a showcase of your skills, your style, and your value as a designer. But how do you make sure that your portfolio aligns with your career goals and attracts the right opportunities? Here are some tips to help you match your mobile design portfolio to your career aspirations.
Before you start creating or updating your portfolio, you need to have a clear idea of who you want to impress and what they are looking for. Do you want to work for a specific company, industry, or niche? Do you want to specialize in a certain type of mobile design, such as UI, UX, or interaction? Do you want to highlight your versatility or your expertise? Research your target market and find out what kind of mobile design projects, styles, and skills they value and expect. Then, tailor your portfolio accordingly.
What I advise new designers to do is make a list of industries or companies that you would like to work with. These industries have design problems they are trying to solve or they are constantly facing. Note these design problems and solve them in your portfolio. This gives you hands-on experience in the space you would like to join in the future, hence aligning with your career goals.
Create a comprehensive persona representing the optimal profile viewership for your portfolio. Subsequently, explore sectors aligning with your interests, wherein entities catering to the identified persona abound. This process facilitates a refined selection of projects to highlight, as the distinction between positioning oneself as a designer adept in enhancing developer tool user experiences versus one proficient in fostering e-commerce audience expansion is apparent.
What this means practically is not to 're-write' all your case studies but rather, curating them in a way that is relevant for the job role you are applying. For example, let's say I have 3 case studies belonging to Crypto Deposit, Payments & User Onboarding. If I am applying for a company that is an e-commerce platform, I would re-arrange them in this order - Payment, User Onboarding & Crypto Deposit. This is because as an e-com, payments-related problem statements are something they would be able to relate easily and thereby, make me relevant for the role.
Your mobile portfolio is a captivating stage, where your devoted fans eagerly gather. The secret? "Know your audience." Before plunging in, ponder: Whom do you aim to impress? A specific company? A preferred design niche? Unearth their preferences and showcase your expertise. Think cake flavors – different for different folks. Craft a portfolio for your fans. Explore their designs, note their likes, and shape your portfolio. While crafting it, center your attention on your fans. Each image and click is a conversation. Your designs become their language, weaving a spell of enchantment. Let your designs proclaim, "I comprehend your desires and aspire to astonish!" Your portfolio's your stage, clicks applause from fans.???
Showcase your skills by understanding your target audience's needs. Keep empathy for others at the forefront of your actions. Learn about your potential employer's brand and aesthetics to create a portfolio that shows your skills and aligns with their vision. Understanding Google's Material Design and Apple's Human Interface Guidelines is crucial. These guidelines serve as your foundation and a point of reference when facing design pushback from team members. Familiarity with these industry standards will help refine your skills and contribute to a standout portfolio.
Your portfolio should demonstrate your ability to solve problems, create engaging experiences, and deliver quality results. Choose the mobile design projects that you are most proud of and that showcase your range of skills and creativity. Don't include everything you've ever done, but focus on the ones that are relevant, recent, and remarkable. For each project, provide some context, such as the goal, the process, the challenges, and the outcomes. Use visuals, such as screenshots, mockups, prototypes, or videos, to illustrate your work and make it easy to understand.
I've gone through 500+ applications last month for hiring a Graphic Designer. The observations apply to all sorts of portfolios: 1. Showcase your 'best' 3 works only. Less is more. Because the hiring manager has very very limited time. 2. Relevant things on top. Doesn't matter the chronology. If you are a graphic designer who wants to switch to product design, put work that shows a similar work. 3. Pictures, are not enough. As far as product design is concerned, we hiring managers, like to see how you THINK. What was the problem, who are you solving it for, what were the hits and misses, the impact? Keep it brief, to the point.
Imagine your portfolio as a gallery of your best creations. It's not about quantity, but about displaying your problem-solving skills, creativity, and top-notch outcomes. Choose mobile design projects that make you proud. Skip the extras; focus on the cream of the crop – those recent, relevant, ones. For each project, tell a story. Describe the goal, the journey, the challenges conquered, and the outcomes achieved. Now, the magic touch: visuals. Screenshots, mockups, prototypes, and videos breathe life into your work, making it easy to grasp. Your portfolio is a showcase of your prowess. Each piece, a testament to your ability to create, innovate, and conquer challenges. Curate with care, present with pride, and let your work shine. ???
You are painting a canvas, not writing a letter. Every piece of proof of your making must create a chapter on the book of what are the things you have been exposed to and how you have them work out. Storytelling is crucial but also is alignment. Look for the projects similar to your client's one or if you lack of them, look for similarities (verticals, niche, difficulty or nature).
A punchy impact title or even data/KPIs to start off a project will be immensely valuable. While people want to see great work, ultimately the outcome they want is to know that you can have a (positive) impact. So communicate this. As Designers become more involved in the business, this is becoming more a staple.
Add your social proof, like testimonials/recommendations and functional social links :) While showing the best work, you can add a space where you can showcase your personal explorations or engagements at different levels, like volunteering, community competitions, etc :)
Your portfolio should not only show what you can do, but also why you are different from other mobile designers. What is your design philosophy, approach, or vision? How do you communicate, collaborate, and learn? What are your strengths, passions, or interests? How do you add value to your clients, users, or projects? Use your portfolio to tell your story and showcase your personality. Include a brief introduction, a professional bio, a resume, or a testimonial section to highlight your unique value proposition.
Don't copy others. Even though you like others' portfolios, your portfolio is about you. Don't be lazy, write your own content. This helps your audience to get your thinking, your humour. You can highlight why design matters to you and what do you think about impacting others through design? You can share blog posts or short intermittent thoughts here and there - the point is to show your personality, so the audience will get what it feels like to work with you. In the end, you want to work in an environment where you can find people who like you and vice versa - you can use this as a filter. If people don't like you based on your portfolio and content, it wouldn't be a good fit anyway.
Your portfolio isn't just a display of skills; it's a stage to spotlight what sets you apart as a mobile designer. Share your design philosophy, your approach, and your vision. Illuminate your communication, collaboration, and learning style. Unveil your strengths, passions, and interests that breathe life into your work. How do you make projects shine for clients, users? Let your portfolio tell your tale. Introduce yourself, offer a glimpse of your journey, and let your personality shine. Whether through bio, resume, or testimonials, craft each word and pixel to sing your distinct song. Your portfolio is a canvas for your unique hues, weaving a story that only you can tell in the grand tapestry of mobile design. ??
Using words that can provide striking emphasis like 'Superpower' or 'Magic Skill' can be a fun and understandable way to showcase your unique value.
Your portfolio should be an expression of how you approach a project and how you achieve growth as a designer. It should include the things you have discovered, the decisions that worked well, the moments when you encountered challenges, and the lessons you learned from those experiences. It tells a story about the way you strive to understand your users' needs, remove obstacles, facilitate communication across multi-disciplinary teams, how did you solve business problems, and the impact of your outcomes.
Your portfolio should be easy to navigate, view, and share. Don't overload it with too much information, clutter, or distractions. Use a simple, clean, and consistent layout and design that reflects your mobile design style and brand. Make sure your portfolio is responsive, fast, and compatible with different devices and browsers. Use a clear and concise language that conveys your message and showcases your communication skills. Provide clear and relevant contact information and links to your social media profiles or other platforms where you showcase your work.
Remember, a portfolio is to showcase your work. An overly designed / avant guard / flashy portfolio site might not impress, especially if your actual work samples and case studies are not the focus.
Your portfolio is a map that anyone can follow. Keep it clean, clear, and easy to use. Avoid stuffing it with excess info, chaos, or diversions. Opt for a neat, uniform design that mirrors your mobile style and brand. Ensure it works smoothly on all gadgets and browsers. Keep words straightforward. Simple, effective communication is key. And remember, don't forget to share your contact details and links to your social profiles or other platforms where your work sparkles. Your portfolio is your canvas. Make it simple, accessible, and a pleasure to explore for all who step onto it. ???
Remember this great quote: "A good designer will fit everything you want neatly on a screen... A great designer will tell you half the s**t is unnecessary"
In case of your portfolio, you are the product that you want to showcase. How would you demonstrate the benefits, the pros, the best side of a product that happens to be you? Test your portfolio on different platforms. As a designer, you are responsible for flawless information flow, accessible to all your users. Your content should be easily understandable - not everyone is native on the language that you use on your portfolio. You should check it on different languages. You should check for typos, for proper fonts, if they're displayed well on all screens. Be demanding when presenting your work - you have only one chance to make a first impression.
Your portfolio should be a living document that evolves with your career goals and mobile design skills. Don't let it become outdated, stale, or irrelevant. Update and improve it regularly to reflect your current work, achievements, and aspirations. Seek feedback from peers, mentors, or clients and use it to refine your portfolio and improve your mobile design skills. Showcase your growth and learning by adding new projects, skills, or testimonials. Keep an eye on the latest trends, best practices, and opportunities in the mobile design field and adapt your portfolio accordingly.
Your portfolio is like a story that unfolds as you progress. Keep it vibrant, not stagnant. Don't let it gather dust or become outdated. Regularly refresh it with your latest work, triumphs, and dreams. Embrace feedback from peers, mentors, or clients, refining both your portfolio and design abilities. Highlight your evolution. Add fresh projects, skills, and testimonials that showcase your growth. Stay in the loop with mobile design trends, adapting your portfolio to stay current. Your portfolio is a living canvas, ever-changing and reflecting your dynamic journey. Let it echo your progress, inspiring others with your dedication and craft. ???
Best approach I've found is to note take key milestones on any project you're working on, both to use as leverage and also for documenting more easily in the future for a proper portfolio project.
When working for a company that doesn't allow you to publish your work that you do there, create pet projects. To demonstrate your skills, you can create dummy projects for fake stakeholders. Just imagine the situation, write a life-like brief, put yourself in the situation and just do it for fun. This way you can practice the latest techniques, you can fool around with design, you can learn from others and you can get inspired. Also, if you are satisfied with the result, you can publish it on your portfolio and this way you can show that you are up-to-date when it comes to design.
Demonstrate your business impact. Designers are professionals hired to create business impact. Our work needs to drive business outcomes through the input of creating experiences that resonate with customers. The top portfolios I've seen in my career are un-shy about the positive impact they've had on the company's metrics.
While putting together your best work, ensure your portfolio follows fundamental design principles - layout, colours, typography, contrast, hierarchy, etc. Additionally, make sure the UX principles are addressed. Users prefer to avoid surprises - Elements should function how they intend to. Below are some areas to focus: - Responsive for different screen sizes - Custom 404 page to bring users back - Forms and buttons work as expected and have success error info - checking broken links - checking interactions Fundamentally, treat your portfolio as a product and your target audience as users :)