If you are a mobile designer or aspire to be one, you know that having a strong portfolio is essential to showcase your skills and experience. But how do you make your portfolio stand out from the crowd of traditional web or graphic designers? In this article, we will explore some of the key elements that make a mobile design portfolio unique and effective.
Mobile design is all about creating engaging and intuitive experiences for users on different devices and platforms. Therefore, your portfolio should demonstrate how you understand the user's needs, goals, and pain points, and how you solve them with your design solutions. You can do this by including user research, personas, user journeys, wireframes, prototypes, and user testing in your portfolio projects. Show how you applied user-centered design principles and best practices to create mobile-friendly interfaces and interactions.
Mobile design is not just about making apps for smartphones or tablets. It also involves designing for wearable devices, smart TVs, voice assistants, and other emerging technologies. Your portfolio should reflect your ability to adapt to different contexts, screen sizes, and input methods, and how you leverage the capabilities and constraints of each device. You can also show your versatility by including projects from different industries, domains, and audiences, and how you tailored your design approach and style to fit each one.
It might be a good idea to create additional wearable designs, next to your mobile designs. It shows versatility in design thinking and it can add an extra to you case study.
Mobile design requires a combination of skills and tools that may differ from those of traditional web or graphic design. For example, you may need to know how to use native or hybrid frameworks, design systems, accessibility guidelines, and animation tools. Your portfolio should highlight your proficiency and familiarity with these skills and tools, and how you use them to create mobile design solutions. You can also mention any certifications, courses, or awards that demonstrate your expertise and credibility in mobile design.
One thing that always stands out to me is when mobile design portfolios have text or tap spaces that are too small. I find this to be more common in first job or first time designing for mobile portfolios. Pay attention to these design details, they are important!
Mobile design is not just about making beautiful screens or functional features. It is also about telling a story that connects with the user and communicates the value and purpose of your design. Your portfolio should tell a story that showcases your design process, your role and contribution, your challenges and achievements, and your learnings and insights. You can use case studies, videos, testimonials, or blog posts to tell your story in an engaging and compelling way.
It's not enough to show visually stunning final mocks or assets. It's critical to display the process of how you got from start to finish including the data points you used to drive your decision making. Show people the iterations you went through and guide them to your solutions.
Mobile design is a fast-changing and competitive field, so you need to keep your portfolio updated and relevant. You don't need to include every project you have ever done, or every detail of every project. Instead, you should be selective and choose the projects that best represent your skills, experience, and goals as a mobile designer. You should also make sure that your portfolio is relevant to the type of mobile design job or client you are applying for, and that it showcases your unique value proposition and differentiation.
A couple of really strong examples of your work is always better than ten mediocre ones. It is always better to stand out with quality than just showcasing quantity. Your skills and confidence need to be demonstrated. Update older projects to the latest design language. By doing this, you'll demonstrate that you're serious about your work.
In my experience of reviewing many candidates portfolios, if you want to stand out from the rest, focus on complex platforms, data tables, and data visualization. These areas showcase your skills in laying out and organizing content. If you have conducted any real usability testing with mobile users, it's great to highlight it, because in that case, you have more insight into how users interact with devices compared to other designers.
It might be a good idea to present the design in a real world setting through mockups of people using the app, interacting with a flow, giving some context for the design itself.
In the world of mobile design, remember to keep your portfolio up-to-date. Design trends in mobile apps shift much more regularly than with web and desktop apps. Even if you feel like the project was important, an outdated looking app on your portfolio will throw the viewer off. If you are using an older frame for the prototype or mock, you should be remove that project.