Righteo, well below is a link to a pdf of my current portfolio in my dropbox. I’ve only just created it (and then re-created it after some suggestions), so constructive criticism would be great. I have yet to give it out to anyone.
Could people please remember the disclaimer, this work was done as part of a company, so please don’t share it around. If it is also alright, I may take the link down after a while.
Thanks!
I am not a UX designer, so in many ways I don’t qualify to critique your portfolio Natalie, but I have some feedback that might be useful. Take it with a grain of salt.
First up, I love the way you clearly offer up the backstory along with the business problems that you were aiming to solve. You’ve absolutely nailed the issues that are raised in the article that Dean posted above. I feel like I have a solid understanding of why you chose to take the approaches that you did to solve the issues at hand. Nicely done.
I think your portfolio does a great job of communicating your skill set, education and experience, and shows how you are able to pull those things together and apply them to a project.
The range of different projects is great, as are the images showing your process, rather than just a finished product.
My only criticism is that it feels a bit like a school project. The design isn’t quite as polished as I think I would be expecting as an employer. That possibly has something to do with viewing it as a pdf rather than as a website.
All in all I’m really impressed. I’m looking forward to hearing what the pros have to say about it. 
Offtopic: As an aside, I used to love going to ScienceAlive! An old boyfriend of mine’s dad used to be the CEO so I used to go there every time I visited Chch. Sadly, he was killed in the earthquake.
Hi Natalie! Thanks for jumping into the fire and posting your portfolio. I’ll skip the pre-requisite phoenix rising / steel-hardening puns and come straight out with it - congratulations on a great portfolio. =)
Some constructive feedback:
[LIST]
[]I love that your photos show process rather than just the deliverables. Annotating them with captions to explain this would be handy, especially where they reference findings, problems and solutions, or explain what the people in the photo are doing.
[]You mentioned that the work was collaborative (good to include!) but annotating the images with references to your own thinking and identifying exactly what you did will help bring your won contributions to the surface, even if the rest are collaborative.
[]You may like to differentiate the projects a bit more using layout and colours, so it is easier to see which pages relate to each project.
[]Some feature images that are larger and more ‘finished’ might help stop the school-project vibe Hawk referred to.
[]Space is a factor, but breaking out the process into a bigger diagram on its own page, with the notes on your work style, will anchor the portfolio a bit more in the process rather than in the columns of text.
[]I’m aware of the dynamics that get changed when you put your profile photo on a portfolio, but a friendly, smiling face does help the document be more relatable, especially if you have a good photo.
[]You’ve done a great job of including images that explain the project as well as invite interest in the ideas behind them.
[]Good to see you referring to some data and findings that informed your approach too. If you can, show some before and after metrics (although it’s hard to pin down sometimes!)
[/LIST] Thanks for sharing. =)
Awesome, thank you guys for your feedback!
I’ve tried to make some more changes. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten around having so much text, but I will keep trying to improve it :).
I feel much more confident applying for jobs with all the help and positive comments :).
For future projects I will try to get more metrics (none of the projects done with my current company had them).
Thanks again!
Hi everyone,
Well I am keen to jump in the water: http://charleshenrilison.com/
Feel free to have a look, I am very interested to read your opinion.
Just saw Natalie’s one and I love it; you can definitively feels how it’s like working with you.
Hey Charles-Henri,
Thanks for taking the plunge. The same disclaimer that I gave to Natalie… I’m not a professional UXer.
I love the presentation. It’s slick, professional and easy to navigate. I also love the way that you outline the issues and the process, as well as the finished product.
Your images are fantastic. They go a long way to demonstrating your process.
As far as constructive criticism goes, while you clearly have an amazing grasp of English, your portfolio would benefit from an English edit. Some of your sentences are constructed slightly clumsily and don’t read well.
Amazing job.
Hi Charles!
Here’s the stuff I like:
[LIST]
[]As Hawk mentioned, the typography and colour palette is clean and simple. Nice.
[]I like the idea of a large photo of yourself on the front
[/LIST] Here’s some ideas for how you might be able to improve it:
[LIST]
[]I found the navigation labels a bit confusing—it seems like stuff that doesn’t belong together has been grouped together. For instance, why are “email” and “resume” one item? Also, “skillset” and “case studies” don’t feel like a natural pairing either. They’re different enough concepts that seeing them as the one menu item was a bit jarring.
[]When I clicked “email and resume” it threw me a bit to see a contact form. I guess I had in my mind “it will display his email address” but I realised after looking at the page that it was intended to send you an email, using the form. Personally, I’d stick with convention and call it “Contact”, and link your resume somewhere else, e.g. at the top of the portfolio
[]Might be worth getting a different photograph? You look handsome enough, but I know you, and know that you have a great smile. Why not have that portrayed on the first page, when you’re making your first impression?
[]I like the idea of the case studies, but I don’t feel like they really tell a story. Rather than have your skillsets listed as something separate, it may be more effective to weave the times that you used these skills into the story behind each case study. Each image/video currently has a small commentary that gives a bit of background, but none of them demonstrate the design process you followed, or reveal much about how you approach a problem. People want to get an insight into how you think—find a way to tell that story and your case studies will be more compelling.
[*]You’re referred to your “portfolio” in a couple of links on the site, but you don’t use the word Portfolio in the menu or in any heading. This is a bit of an orientation problem. I got lost knowing where the line that you’ve drawn for what constituted the portfolio and what was “other general bits of my personal site” and what was “a specific case study but separate from the portfolio”. I think that page needs some re-thinking.
[/LIST] Anyway, hope that’s all helpful!
Matt
Thanks a lot Matt. Very valuable feedback.
It looks like that the overall labelling needs a bit of re-work.
A better approach for the different case studies is definitively required.
I wasn’t sure where to put this, so I thought it might fit in here…
I would like to thank you guys for your feedback on my portfolio, and for helping me be able to create one effectively with the conversations that have been floating around on this board.
As I mentioned before my current internship is unfortunately coming to an end, I’ve learned a lot and had two amazing mentors.
Some happy news is that I have managed to get a full time graduate UX position in another job, and will have a lead female UX to help mentor me (which I’m pretty excited about as I’ve mostly been around males in this area). So once again, thanks a bunch, as I’m pretty sure the portfolio helped get me through the door, as well as interviews with a few different parties.
That is awesome news Natalie. Well done!
I’m keen to receive some feedback on my portfolio website if the UX Mastery community is willing.
I’ve moved interstate to Melbourne and am looking to get an internship or full-time role but am having trouble finding employers that are willing to take on non-Senior UXers. I’m working on hypothetical projects to build up my UX practice skills (usability tests, sketches/wireframes, prototyping, Axure, etc) but am feeling a bit lost at the moment.
I’ve followed a similar format that UsabilityCounts recommended for a traditional CV/resumé (fairly formal).
My critique of the above is:
Thanks for checking it out and providing some feedback.
Shannon
Hey Shannon,
I’ll start with my usual caveat… I’m not a UXer, I’m a Community Manager, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.
Firstly, WOW. It looks great. Slick and professional. The image of you presenting adds weight. Portfolio aside, it’s a lovely site. I don’t think it’s too corporate. It looks professional but the language you use is casual enough to portray your personality.
I love the way you’ve broken things up into short, easy to digest sections.
I also love the UX techniques sketches on each of the case studies.
To be honest, I don’t have any criticism, so I’ll call in the pros.
Nice work.
Hi Shannon,
I had a quick look and I agree with Hawk, it does look very nice!
My one suggestion would be to try show more of your process somehow, so that you can show details in each of the steps that you went through. This helps demonstrate how you think, and solve problems etc. But I wouldn’t necessarily show this up front, for instance click into each of your examples to see the more details of the process.
This way people don’t just see the fancy finished versions, but get to see the nitty gritty! Things that worked, things that you would improve upon.
Hope this helps
Hey Shannon,
It is very slick! Love the blue header - blue always makes things look so much more professional. And I agree with Hawk that image with the pretty whiteboard thing is really working for you.
There are a few things that did stand out to me.
I am UX-er but please feel free to ignore me - I have as habit of being brutally honest but please understand I only want to help you
The first thing I saw was ‘hire me’ and I though 'ooh where will that take me?! ’ so I clicked it and it scrolled really fast all the way down to the fat footer. It wasn’t easy to look at and made my eyes spin and definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting it to lead to contact details just minus the visual rollercoaster
Whenever I see this ‘Thanks for visiting my online portfolio’, I find it as annoying as “Welcome to the intranet!”. It’s just derr-factor and noisy. I think there are better ways to communicate what it is I’m looking at and I think you do that very well without reminding people they are online.
I clicked on the hamburger and the scrolling thing happened again - I don’t see how the hamburger adds value on the desktop version. Is it just there for mobile? I’m on my laptop. You already know what I think of the scrolling.
Ok now some good news - I really like it how you’ve put your accomplishments first. That’s really important information and you’ve surfaced it well.
The heading “UX portfolio” confuses me - I thought the whole site was the portfolio?
Why do I have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see the ‘career snapshot’? It looks like you couldn’t find a home for it and buried it at the bottom.
This is nice “If you are searching for an enthusiastic and passionate UX practitioner, let’s chat. I’m seeking to join a product-driven UX team in Melbourne.” I would move it up to next to your presenting photo.
I hope this is helpful and not too brutal! I’m lucky enough to work in a very flat and safe environment where I can say what I think (and be told what others think) and the design is better for it.
How have you found things since you posted last Shannon? I notice your portfolio still lists you as looking for work. Any bites?
Hi All,
I have just completed the free course on springboard created by julia debari in ux and loved it. now i am at the create a portfolio step and am stumped on how to proceed. there is a project as part of the course that i am working through on my own. but i dont know if it’s good or right. is there a step by step process i can use to create a portfolio somewhere on the web? or maybe a book of project ideas? would you suggest i get a mentor to help me walkthrough the portfolio process step by step? i got the knowledge from the springboard course now i just need to apply it. would you suggest taking another course in the hopes that its project based? i dont want to waste time course hopping. i want to stay focused and get my portfolio setup so i can apply for my first job asap. Thoughts?
Sorry for the late response @erin_mccool – somehow your post slipped under my radar.
I can help.
[quote=“erin_mccool, post:23, topic:216”]
but i dont know if it’s good or right
[/quote] Every project is good for a portfolio – it all comes down to how you document your process and present it. Here are some of my favourites, with notes about why:
There is this Udemy course (which is currently on sale for $10)
Here is some advice that I compiled a while back:
Nope – not necessarily. There are other ways to find projects. This article has some ideas:
This topic is also useful:
And another article that I like:
thank you so much for all the info. ive seen the david travis article and
am taking his course on ux now.
Erin
I wanted to ask about sketches/wireframes/high fidelity prototype.
When presenting in portfolio should I be selective or should I show the whole project with every possible windows that may appear?
Be selective. Show one example of each type.