© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

IN 2007 I TRANSFORMED MY
UX PORTFOLIO, GOT MORE
INTERVIEWS, AND WAS
HIRED BY A STARTUP IN NYC

I did it by treating my UX portfolio like an UX project.

✓ Researched the “users” of my portfolio

✓ Focused on the content first and didn’t jump right to design
✓ Considered the experience of my portfolio, resume, and more
✓ Had an real plan with dates, deadlines, and feedback

That UX portfolio helped me get full time jobs, consistent freelance

clients, and amazing opportunities in the UX industry.

Now, i’m dedicated to helping UX professionals like you create a UX

portfolio that stands out so you can get hired.

No more rushing to finish your portfolio when unexpected portfolios come

up. No more not applying to roles because your portfolio isn’t ready.

Imagine having a framework for how to talk about your process and and
tell the story of each project, not just in your portfolio but during interviews
and even in your daily role with colleagues and clients.

With a portfolio you are confident in, you’ll be more prepared for interviews
and you will keep that imposter feeling at bay.

There are 2 ways I can help you in your UX career right now ….

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

01: UX PORTFOLIO FORMULA

What it’s all about? UX Portfolio Formula is a self paced online program that
teaches the exact steps to choose your projects, write effective case studies
and layout your UX portfolio.

UX Portfolio Formula is for you if:

✓ You want to finally have a UX portfolio you’re proud of.
✓ You’re tired of not being able to apply to roles because your portfolio is
not finished.
✓ You already have a portfolio and want to take it to version 2.0 so that you
get more interviews.

But it is NOT for you if … you want to learn how to do UX. You will not learn
how to do UX and you will not receive project briefs for practice project.

Learn more right here:

www.uxportfolioformula.com/online-course

“I followed Sarah’s advice and landed with a

portfolio I was proud of.
I submitted my resume to 4 large companies,
landed 2nd interviews with them, got 2 amazing
offers, AND GOT HIRED!
I’m now a UX Architect with a 72% pay increase …
LIFE CHANGING!”

- Katie, UX Architect at Bayer Crop Science

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

02: THRIVE UX CAREER COACHING

What’s it all about?

THRIVE is a 3-month accelerator to help you with your UX portfolio, job
search, and interview preparations.

The 3-month UX career coaching is right for you if:

✓ You want to get hired into a new UX role in the next 3 - 4 months.
✓ You are not brand new and are not still learning how to actually do UX.
✓ You are ready to be laser focused on your UX portfolio, job search, and
interview prep for 3 months.

But this is NOT for you if … you have interviews and offers and just want
some quick advice. Or, if you can’t invest financially in your career right now.

Interested? Learn more right here:

www.uxportfolioformula.com/ux-career-coaching

“Sarah took my career to the next level and I got

hired as a UX designer at Home Depot!

She provided me with so much one-on-one

guidance on my portfolio and helped me prepare
for interviews. I owe so much to her for all that
she's done!"

- Abriel, UX Designer at Home Depot

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

YOUR 8-STEP CHECKLIST
Here’s a quick summary of the steps you need to take to create a solid UX
portfolio that gets results.

Step 1: Identify & demonstrate your specific skills.

Step 2: Create your “Career Compass Statement”.

Step 3: Choose the projects you want to include.

Step 4: Write your full project case studies.

Step 5: Gather visuals and project artifacts.

Step 6: Distill case studies into concise project summaries.

Step 7: Choose layouts & present each project visually.

Step 8: Optimize your online presence to stand out.

In the pages that follow, you’ll find detailed and actionable advice and
steps you can take for each step.

You’ve got this!

PS: When you’re ready to take your UX portfolio to the next level, come
join UX Portfolio Formula: www.uxportfolioformula.com/online-course

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 1

IDENTIFY & DEMONSTRATE YOUR

SPECIFIC SKILLS
Someone once told me …“Sarah, you’re blind to your own skills.” We ALL
have hidden skills that we’re using and don’t recognize or that we’re not
even using.

Want to be successful in your career? Then you must be able to identify

and articulate your skills.

Why? So potential employers know exactly what they’re getting if they hire
you.

To identify your skills, you can look internally, but you also need to look to
two other sources ….

1. You need to ask other people what they see in you.

2. You have to think about who you admire. The skills we see in others
are often the skills we have but don’t actually recognize.

Ok so you might be thinking “I don’t have anyone to ask because I don’t

want them to know I’m looking for a job.”. Not true.

Here are 4 people you could ask:

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

1. A former boss you’re in good standing with.
2. A colleague, teacher or mentor (lucky you, that’s 3 more).
3. A friend who knows you well.
4. A past client.

Wondering what you’re going to ask these people? Start with these two
simple questions:

1. What do you think I’m naturally skilled at?

2. What do you think are my under-utilized skills?

Got it? Now, do it and execute. Open your email and email two people. I’m
serious, do it right now! You want this feedback ASAP.

Now there are a few more questions you could ask…

But we’ll talk about them in the emails I’ve got prepared for you in a
couple of days.

So make sure you go email those people now. Because you’re going to
want this feedback when you write your “Career Compass Statement”
which is what I have coming at you next.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 2

CREATE YOUR CAREER COMPASS

STATEMENT

Imagine back to elementary school English class ....

Your teacher shows you how to write an essay. My teachers in Canada

always compared the “thesis” to a movie trailer.

The thesis draws people in. It gives people a preview of the essay. And for
you as the writer, it serves as a compass and helps all your subsequent
paragraphs stay on track and not wander.

The “Career Compass Statement” is the same thing. It’s a concise

statement that instantly tells people who you are and what you do.
Recruiters love this because it helps them decide if they’ll look at your
portfolio or not.

I know you might be wondering, “isn’t just putting my name and title
enough?” … nope, your title is not enough.

To be honest, titles in UX are tainted. Titles mean so many things to so

many different people.

What one company calls a “UX/UI Designer” may very well be called an
“Interface Designer” at another company.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

This is why you should focus on your skills. But how do you write this
“Career Compass Statement”?

It should answer these four simple questions:

1. What are your skills?

2. What do you love doing?

3. How are you different?

4. What do you want in your next role?

Easy, right? So get a notebook or open a new document and do this now.

There’s a lot more to this statement than these 4 questions, but I don’t
want to overwhelm you so just start with these.

Ok, we’ve covered YOU. Now it’s time to dive into your PROJECTS!

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 3

CHOOSE THE PROJECTS YOU WANT

TO INCLUDE.

Imagine you’re a lawyer. What do lawyers spend a lot of time on?

EVIDENCE. Lawyers spend weeks gathering evidence. Why? Because

compelling and convincing evidence can make or break a case.

In the same way, your projects are evidence of your UX skills.

Only choose projects that are demonstrative of the skills you say you have.

So if you say you’re skilled at experience design and you don’t have user-
flows or wireframes, then you need to re-think your skills.

You may be thinking, “what if I don’t have many projects?” … that’s a lazy
excuse. There are literally problems ALL around us.

So please … just stop with the excuses already! As designers, we are

problem spotters and problem solvers. So here’s exactly what you need to
do:

Open your eyes and spot some problems. Then ... just solve them. And no,
I’m not telling you to learn to code and build an app.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

I’m telling you to identify a problem, propose a process, document it, and
come up with a proposed solution.

Need help? Take out your phone and create a “Problem Spotting” note or
list.

For the next 3 days write down EVERY problem you spot. Then, after 3
days you’ll have a great list of problems to solve.

So now it’s time to write your full project case studies and show people
your process.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 4

WRITE YOUR FULL PROJECT CASE

STUDIES.
Want to know one of the top questions designers ask me? “How do I write
about my UX process?”

It’s simple, just tell people what you did. Talk them through the purpose,
process, and outcomes. Ok, now I know you’re thinking “Recruiters don’t
read case studies! They literally spend seconds on portfolios.”

Yes, you’re right – they only spend seconds initially.

But listen, the full case study isn’t for them. It’s for you. It helps you get
100% clear on the content. This will help you work a lot faster when it
comes to “designing” your portfolio.

Here's the cool thing … writing the case studies is an investment for your
interview as well. By thinking through these questions, you’ll be armed
with answers to interview questions.

At a high level, your case studies cover 3 main things:

1. The problem you were trying to solve

2. The process you followed
3. The outcomes and results

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

Case studies actually have 7 parts to them, but focus on these 3 first
because I don’t want to overwhelm you!

Alright … now it’s time for you to gather all the visuals and artifacts so you
can begin to represent your projects in a more concise and visual way.

By the way, what you’re seeing here is not just a set of steps to make a
portfolio. It’s really about building confidence in your skills and who you
are as a designer and setting your entire career up for success.

This is why I don’t start with the “design” of your portfolio.

I start with YOU and your projects. Then, the very last thing we do is make
it visually appealing, because it’s all about the content.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 5

GATHER VISUALS AND PROJECT

ARTIFACTS.
You know that phrase, “a picture’s worth a thousand words” … it’s true.
Recruiters spend SECONDS looking at portfolios.

So they don’t have time to read. This is why it’s crucial that your projects
have some visual appeal. Here are different visuals you could include:

• Sketches & storyboards

• Customer journey maps & personas
• Wireframes
• Visual designs & style guides

Remember how I talked about EVIDENCE before? Ok, so think of visuals

as evidence of your skills.

Now I know you are thinking “but what if my project is NOT visual?” or
“what if I’m a researcher and I don’t have cool screens?”

Don’t sweat it, get creative. Here are some ideas:

• Try and do an“info-graphic” style of your process

• Use icons where possible.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

• Try to showcase big numbers (eg. interviewed 44 people)
• Show a photo of your research set up or “in action”

See what I mean? There’s a ton more ways but that’s good for now.

Now that you’ve gathered all your visuals, we’re going to finally layout and
structure the projects in your portfolio so they’re visually appealing and
showcase your skills.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 6

DISTILL CASE STUDIES INTO

CONCISE PROJECT SUMMARIES

I was talking with a recruiter friend and she said that on average, she
spends less than ONE MINUTE looking at a portfolio.

Imagine … less than a minute. So you don’t have very much time to make
a good first impression.

This is why it’s absolutely critical that you communicate who you are and
what you can do in a simple but effective way.

Now, a recruiter cannot actually read your case study in a minute. This is
why you need to translate your case studies into shorter and more visual
summaries.

You need to present your projects in a way that give people a quick
snapshot, so that even if they don’t read everything, they still understand
the project and your role.

One question people always ask is, “Sarah, I don’t know what to write?”.
Ok, well since you already wrote your case study, you do know what to
write. You just have to choose which parts are worthy enough to put in
your actual portfolio. Don’t overthink it.

Another question I get is, “Sarah, how much should I write?”. A good
guideline I have is to keep each section to the length of a tweet.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

The text for each project should answer questions including:

• What was the project goal?

• What was your role?
• What am I (the recruiter) looking at? (eg. provide context)

There’s a lot more to it, but that’s what you should focus on for now.

Make sense?

So if you have a portfolio, go through it and honestly ask yourself if the

text you have answers these questions and if it’s longer than the length of
a tweet. Ok?

Perfect! Now, it’s time to put together the portfolio -- choose layouts and
make it visual!

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 7

CHOOSE LAYOUTS & PRESENT EACH

PROJECT VISUALLY.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
- Steve Jobs

Now, I know you’re thinking, “Wait, isn’t this section about doing the
layouts for our projects?”

Yes …. but NO.

Look at the second part of that quote, “Design is how it works.” In other
words, the UX of your UX portfolio.

Aha! The “how it works” of your portfolio is really how well it does at
representing your UX process, beyond just showing the final deliverable.

Show people your process. Show your sketches, low fidelity designs and
flows, photos of brainstorms or research sessions, etc.

Are you thinking, “but it’s not going to look pretty enough!” … doesn’t
matter. Your portfolio is not an art project. It needs to be professional and
provide evidence of your skills and process.

You’re probably wondering “so what are they looking for?”

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

Again, your process. If you only show a pretty screenshot, red flags will
go off for recruiters and they’ll wonder if you really did that work.

Don’t make them guess at what they are looking at. Here are a few
mistakes to avoid:

• Don’t just have screenshots

• Don’t shrink the visuals so small that we can’t decipher them
• Don’t only show the final designs

Ok those are plenty of tips to get you started. Go look at your portfolio
right now and make sure to use my tips as a guide.

Next up, how to stand out online ... you want that, right?!

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

STEP 8

OPTIMIZE YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE

TO STAND OUT

“You are your greatest creative product.”

I can’t remember where I got this quote, but I’ve been saying it for years.

Just like how the products we work on have a marketing strategy, we too
must have a marketing strategy.

Maybe you’ve been in this situation, your product launched and then …
crickets. You had no users and no customers.

The best products don’t need to market themselves. But, people do need
to know they exist. This is why you need a marketing strategy.

There are two key elements to your marketing strategy:

1. A home base (eg. a website).

2. A way to drive people to your home base.

Now don’t think “I don’t code so I can’t make a website.” You’re NOT
going to learn to code. Instead you’ll use a website builder. You have two
choices:

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

1. Design your own landing page (1 page and include your name,
compass statement, and contact info). Use a service such as
Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, or Wordpress.

2. Use a portfolio site such as Behance, Krop, or Muse.

Note: The danger with these sites is that if a recruiter is on your profile,
they can easily click away if they see someone else’s work that
catches their eye. So be warned.

Once you have a home base in place, now you need to let people know
that your home base exists. So, go put that link all over your social media,
LinkedIn, resume, etc. There’s more to it than that, but that’s a start.

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM

 3 WAYS I CAN HELP WITH YOUR
UX CAREER GOALS.

Join my free UX Community

A group laser focused on UX careers.

Join the group

Enroll in UX Portfolio Formula

An on-demand online course.

About the course

Apply For UX Career Coaching

Sarah’s 3-month UX career accelerator.

Apply now

© SARAH DOODY 2019 UX PORTFOLIO FORMULATM