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Last Updated January 2 2023
More so than any other professional’s website, a UX designer’s portfolio site should be perfect. After all, potential clients and employers expect a top-notch experience on your — a user experience designer’s — portfolio site.
Of course, as a UX designer, you intuitively know what a great website experience looks like:
But there are a lot of ways to showcase all the details and design the website surrounding it. Get inspired by the following UX designer portfolio examples to make your ideal UX portfolio.
Amy is a product designer at Microsoft. She delivers people-first designs and currently leads user research for Money in Excel, a Microsoft 365 solution subscribers can use to manage, track, and analyze money and spending, all in Excel.
Her UX portfolio website’s homepage is an excellent example of showcasing the most essential things top of the fold. She introduces herself and sums up her extensive career right at the top in beautiful yet clear typography. She has also added a confident picture of her interacting with her team below the intro. Overall, potential clients will know pretty much everything about the “professional Amy” as soon as they land on her website.
The next element in the website’s visual hierarchy is her top navigation bar. It includes links to the important pages (for her): About, Work, and Writing. If your aim with the website is to get clients (that’s probably not Amy’s website goal) and you’d be mimicking Amy’s website, perhaps replacing “Writing” with “Contact” or a similar CTA will be a better idea.
Just like the homepage, she showcases her case studies perfectly too. Each case study is in-depth with relevant information about the UX project. They include background, timeline, goal, success metric, problem, research, deliverables, prototyping and usability testing, and more. She also uses screenshots and videos to show her work effectively.
Shawn is an expert in UX design, illustration, writing, and more. He has been creating awesome designs for over 15 years, including some for popular brands like Mastercard and GrubHub.
His website follows the latest minimalist web design practices well. For instance, he uses an easy-to-read font combination and a simple gray (background) and black (text) color palette. Moreover, the site homepage has just two elements:
The UX portfolio includes some big names and extended case studies of the work he has done for them. Each case study starts with a title and a concise description of the UX project. Then, he conveys everything he and his team did in detail and with relevant visuals.
Note : I skimmed through Shawn’s Grubhub UX project case study. It’s SO long that you’ll need about two hours to read it thoroughly. But everything’s to the point, so the length is justified. You shouldn’t make a long case study just for the sake of it; in fact, you should try to shorten it as much as possible.
Mike Wilson is a designer working in the Seattle area. He is an expert in UX research, interaction design, and visual design. His love for figuring out how consumers can easily interact with a platform has landed him projects in many different fields.
I love how Mike has used his photo as the homepage background — it gives the website an immediate personal touch. Unfortunately, though, I am not a fan of using bare minimum text top of the fold — “I am Mike Wilson” is good, but some mention of his profession alongside would have been ideal.
Besides that tiny complaint, everything about Mike’s UX portfolio site is superb. Below the image, he does give a short introduction about who he is and what he does. He has also listed three UX case studies right below the ‘About me’ section.
Each UX project case study is well put. Mike mentions his role, who the client was, what the challenges were, what research & planning he or his teammates did, how he designed the solution, etc. He also includes sketches, early prototypes, wireframes, and other visual elements. He ends his case studies with a conclusion wherein he mentions what he’d do differently if he were to take on the same project again — I love it!
Kelly is based in the UK and is excited about each and every project she’s given. Kelly Batchelor loves creating and problem-solving using design skills that are always completed with energy and art.
You’ll see only two (important) things on her website when you open it:
The ‘Work’ link doesn’t direct to a separate case studies page but opens a drop-down list of her case studies on hover. I suggest you don’t use such drop-down lists — instead, create a separate ‘case studies’ page which people can visit by clicking ‘Work’. That way, you can give proper context for each case study, and visitors can open whichever they find suitable.
For case studies, she follows the typical UX designer case study layout that starts with defining the problem and then goes on to processes and ends with a conclusion. However, there are two web design choices she makes that you might want to replicate in your UX portfolio:
1. Showing the final design screenshot alongside the project title/description. This way, clients will know how her UX design work looks right away. In most case studies, the client has to scroll until the end to find the final product, which they might not do.
2. Ending with a “More Projects” section. Because of it, potential clients can read another case study if the particular case study they saw didn’t impress them.
Jeff Shibasaki is a certified UX writer and content designer from Atlanta. Currently, he is the UX writer at Gympass. He is also an amateur UX designer.
For aspiring UX designers, Jeff’s UX portfolio could be a great inspiration. From what it seems, Jeff hasn’t done any professional UX design work. However, he has multiple UX redesign projects for brands like LinkedIn, Berkshire Hathaway, The New York Times, etc. How? Those are unsolicited work Jeff probably did on his own time to showcase his UX design skills.
Though none of the UX portfolio items are real, each case study is well put together with appropriate sections experienced professionals use in their UX portfolio.
Niya is a UI/UX Designer with a passion for creating user experiences that make life easier. She is from Washington, DC, and currently works on reader experience for The Atlantic.
Her website is simple in a good way. The home page has no images, just text that introduces her and her best work. Most of her case studies are password-protected, but you can read her work on Spotify Social Feature.
Then there’s the hamburger menu that helps you navigate to other important pages like ‘About’ and ‘Contact’.
Overall, Niya’s UX portfolio is solid. But if there’s one thing you’d want to imitate from Niya’s site, it’d be the storytelling style she uses in the about section. Here’s how she describes transitioning from working in International Affairs to becoming a freelance UX designer:
Pratibha is a product designer at Google and has previously worked for Microsoft and Sprinklr. She loves to create delightful human experiences, which is apparent from her UX portfolio.
Her website homepage is straightforward and, therefore, copy-worthy (if that’s even a word). At the top, she has her photo and a short description of her professional self. Then there’s a simple navigation bar with links to her ‘About me,’ ‘Contact,’ and ‘Experiments’ pages.
The work/case studies section is located on the homepage itself. I would’ve loved a jump link to the section in the navigation bar, but this is accessible in just one scroll, so it works.
Most of her UX portfolio is password-protected, but I did see her case study for BJP Connect - a single app for large group communication and work management. It’s perfect: She uses screenshots of the final product at the top, gives an overview of the project and her role in it, and then writes about the whole process with visuals (like videos of her interacting with each screen).
Overall, the UX professional’s website is typical. There’s just one extra page : Experiments. There she showcases the UX experiments she does in her free time. I think it’s fantastic: It shows her passion for what she does professionally.
Sophie was born and raised in Houston. She now works as a product designer in New York and has worked on design projects for brands like Kia and Cadillac Fairview.
Her website is to the point. Above the fold, you’ll see a short intro of Sophie and navigation links to her ‘Work’ and ‘About’ sections. You’ll find links to contact her and her social media profiles in the footer. In my opinion, adding a CTA like “Contact me” at the top is better because sometimes potential clients are already impressed by you (say from your social media posts), and they just want to get in touch.
All her case studies are password-protected, so I can’t comment much on them or the website design surrounding them. However, I can see the thumbnails, and it seems she does a fantastic UX designing job.
One thing I don’t quite like (or don’t appreciate) is this animation she uses besides her logo/site title. Seems more distracting than useful to me.
Michael is a UX/UI designer who also teaches others to design through courses. He has worked with leading tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. He also creates excellent YouTube content for aspiring UI/UX designers.
The Mizko website is superbly structured (and designed) for a site that promotes both a UX design studio and an education platform.
Though Michael has a UX case studies page, he doesn’t have any case studies written. So he just shows them as “Coming soon”:
This is a better way to go about it than not showing any proof of work at all. If you are a freelancer or a small business, you might not have time to write case studies because an in-depth case study can take days or even a week to write. Therefore, just write the project title and description and label the case study as “coming soon”.
This will be the last UX designer portfolio website I dissect. Most of the examples below are some versions of the website designs you saw until now.
Sun designs products and experiences for brands in Commerce, Payments, and Retail. She currently works with Square.
Her website is very straightforward but loses some key elements:
Diana Tatarenko is a visual designer specializing in product design. She is from Israel and is currently a UX & UI Designer in the Wix Mobile Apps team. This UX designer portfolio looks nice because of its unique typography and minimalist design.
Isa Pinheiro is a UX designer building digital experiences at Huge Singapore. She has experience in making product design, website design, in-store design, and more. Her UX portfolio looks clean and premium
Bukhtawer is a user experience and visual designer who has worked with brands like HEIMAT, Lucid Motors, Virgin Voyages, and Frida Baby.
Her homepage is a bit different than most on this list — she has two sections: 1) About her, and 2) References from Previous Work. Most UX professionals have focused on showing their portfolios up front and keeping testimonials at the end. It’s a choice, though — both work as long as you know what you’re doing and can show it clearly.
Misono is a designer from Virginia. Her works consist of projects in graphic design, user experience, and branding. Since she was young, she has had a fascination with design and new ideas.
I like how her individual case studies are presented on a two-column web page. However, I am not a fan of the way she showcases her whole UX designer portfolio:
Without whitespace and relevant title/description, it looks cramped and confusing.
Sarina graduated from the University of Washington. She is currently a UX designer who loves each part of the UX design process, from research all the way to art.
Her simple UX designer portfolio site itself is a testament to her capability to create simple, human designs. Plus, she has fantastic, detailed case studies as proof of work.
Woo Bryant is from the Chicago area, where she used to work as a cook before her UX/UI design days. Her outside experiences give her an authentic approach to program design and direction.
Mahsa Keyhani has a masters in psychology in addition to being a UX Designer in Australia. The human mind is always at the forefront of her design process.
Tamila Rostmoff is a detailed UX designer that has been providing tech solutions for over 10 years. The companies that hire her will find her work clean, practical, and professional. Her UX design portfolio gets straight to the point: The homepage and the projects page are the same.
Havana Nguyen has some consistent guidelines she follows for the work she creates for UX. It always begins with defining the problem, completing user research, and thinking of every possible audience.
Her UX portfolio site is more of a personal website, and it’s splendid. Besides promoting her UX portfolio and design case studies, she showcases her art portfolio, YouTube channel, comics, and more. Also, her art/comic talent reflects on the site.
Evelyn is an experienced designer providing a seamless user experience for her programs that include “Foodie Friends” and the recruiter tool on Linkedin. She currently holds a role with Intuit that is the backbone for a variety of different platforms.
Jocelyn is located in Washington and is a graduate of the University of Maryland. She treats each of her jobs in a way that combines user needs in a clean and easy-to-use way. Her narrow UX designer portfolio surrounded by whitespace looks lovely.
Also, I like how she depicts her process for each portfolio item right in the thumbnail — worth replicating for your UX portfolio:
Originally from Philadelphia, Finna is a UX Designer as well as an interior designer. Architectural components, beautiful design, and problem-solving are skills she brings to the table.
This UX designer portfolio site includes the bare minimum elements but the case studies well-written with depth.
Kyle Obrock is a photographer as well as a UX designer. His combination of artistry, design and logical thinking has helped develop some great solutions for different brands.
If you want to use Kyle’s UX designer portfolio as inspiration, here’s an idea for you: Link to your UX Designer portfolio where you mention it in the top text. For example, Kyle has written, “Hi! I’m Kyle. UX Designer / Photographer” — here, he could link his UX portfolio and photography portfolio to the relevant anchors.
Lisa Labbe is a well-rounded designer currently working on UX Design and Research. Her degrees in both graphic design and psychology give her a unique approach to the user experience.
One of the unique things on Lisa’s UX portfolio is this section she has added on the homepage — I like it; adds to the credibility of the UX designer:
Batool began utilizing her design skills years ago in animation. This work left her wanting something more. She now focuses on problem-solving and a team approach in UX Design.
This UX portfolio website design is textbook.
Sarah Liu began her career originally in accounting and finance. But her creativity needed an outlet, and this led her to become a UX Designer. She loves the research aspect as well as the design itself.
Jennifer Yoo is a UX designer with more than 7 years of experience. She started as a graphic designer and learned a variety of different design programs. She seeks out projects that are important to her and her morals.
Julia has a resume featuring her UX Design skills that include programs for companies like American Eagle, PNC Bank, and more. Clean, easy-to-use, and smart program development is her passion.
With all the whitespace, this UX designer’s portfolio looks beautiful. Plus, it has well-presented, simple case studies.
Jess Woods works out of Los Angeles but is originally from Britain. She loves to work on large projects with big brands that solve major problems. She breaks the process down one by one and then builds it back up.
The portfolio site uses great copy (“NO-NONSENSE USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN AND RESEARCH”) and great CTAs.
Eric William Hanson is a designer and researcher that has worked in photography, film production, and graphic design. He now focuses on the user experience aspect and is furthering his education at the University of Toronto.
Lital is a UI/UX designer based in Tel Aviv. She has worked on multiple apps, products, and websites. I love the “Scroll down to see my work!” cue she uses to remove ambiguity. The “Let’s Talk” CTA-cum-jump link is awesome, too.
Graphic Design, UX Design, and Branding assistance are all categories that Aaron can help a company with. His passion for all things digital design keeps him continuously learning from each job.
Ron Rowland has worked on a variety of UX case studies that have made his clients very satisfied. In his downtime, he is also a musician exploring another element of creativity.
John Karl is well versed in the design world with over 20 years of experience. 13 of those years have included UX Design for clients, which include both small and large companies. John is capable of both collaborations and solo work.
Sarah Johnson creates sleek and polished designs that have organized healthcare platforms and Amazon, just to name a couple. She has even worked abroad in corporate, giving her a different type of experience.
Natalia graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta and still resides in the state of Atlanta. Her services include Graphic and UI/UX Design. Her designs are not only appealing to the eye but also solve problems while being user-friendly.
You can build a personal UX portfolio site with an easy-to-use website builder like Squarespace. It has templates for all types of portfolio sites. Alternatively, you can use a niche-specific platform like Cargo, Behance, UXfolio, etc.
The best UX portfolios include in-depth case studies, an about section, and a contact page. Besides, they have testimonials and 'featured in'' sections for social proof.
Absolutely! Most recruiters look at portfolios and case studies before hiring for any UX role.
Do unsolicited work and showcase it as case studies as Jeff Shibasaki does. See Example-5 in the above list.
