The Mystery of Your Biggest UX Project

A lot of you probably saw this title and expected me to tell you the story of the project I completed for my largest, most known client. Well... I am not here to do that!

The reason being, is that in reality, even though it might be the most glamorous to talk about, it's not really your biggest or most important project!

Which one is then, you might be asking?

Your portfolio!

Now hear me out. Technically I know your portfolio is not actually a project you will share out as a case study on it. BUT, the thought processes you use to solve those problems at hand, should be used to design your portfolio too!

Let's think about a few of these specifically.

1. Overall flow

When we build a website or app, we think about the flow. Specifically we tend to build site maps and possibly conduct a card sort to complete some Information Architecture. By doing this, you end up with a product that flows in a manner that makes sense, and works for your users need at hand.

So why then, should your portfolio be different?

Exactly, it shouldn't be! When thinking about your portfolio, you should also think about the flow of it. In other words, you should ask yourself, how does a person get from one project to the next? Too often, I get to the bottom of a case study project and I get stuck. The navigation is now hidden and there are no buttons helping me maneuver to the next project. By changing this, it not only allows the Hiring Manager, per se, to quickly move to the next project, but it also shows them that you are thinking about the overall experience of your user. Now.... does that sound familiar to your day to day as a UXer!?

2. Keep them engaged

Now a days, an important part of app development is being able to keep your user engaged and wanting to come back for more. Obviously there are morals with how this should be done, but the high level principle stands true for portfolios as well. Because think about it... don't you want the person looking at your site to want to move throughout it all?

So next time you work on your portfolio, I encourage you to think about how you can excite your user to stay engaged and interested in you and your work.

3. Design with the user in mind

This one shouldn't come as a shock to you in the sense of a UX tactic. But, what you would be surprised about is that not many Junior UXers seem to keep this in mind as they create their portfolios and case studies.

Let's think of the persona of a Hiring Manager again for a second. They have very little time. I'm talking about 0 to about 60 seconds. Which as you can imagine will go by super quickly!

What this means then, is that you need to make sure your case studies are scalable and easily digestible in short periods of time. That's why highlighting key words throughout your case studies will help to alleviate this!

These are just three pieces to keep in mind as you update or work on your portfolio. But I would encourage you to think about what other similarities there are between your UX process and the one of building your portfolio!