01What hiring managers want to see
Nielsen Norman Group asked 204 UX professionals who hire what they look for. Its resulting guidance: pick three to five projects, make every case study scannable because managers rarely read the whole portfolio, and include the problem, your role, the process, whether it worked, the challenges and abandoned ideas, the effect on users and the business, and what you learned.
On UX Stack Exchange, a hiring designer put it in one line: just seeing the final work does not tell much about someone's design process, and portfolios that show the evolution of a project, dead ends and all, are much more revealing.
02A case study template
Put the summary at the top. A reviewer who reads only that should know what you did and whether it worked.
| Section | What to write | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Product, problem, your role, outcome in one paragraph | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Problem | What was wrong and how you knew | 1 short section |
| Process | Research, ideas, testing, with key artifacts | The longest part |
| Decisions | Options considered, trade-offs, why you chose | A few key decisions |
| Outcome | What shipped and what changed, with numbers if you have them | 1 short section |
| Reflection | What you would do differently | 2 to 3 sentences |
03Handling NDAs and unshipped work
Most UX work is confidential. NN/g suggests showing process images, redacting or blurring identifying details, or recreating designs with generic branding. One UX Stack Exchange answer recommends a password-protected area of your site, shared with employers, with a short description and deliverables such as wireframes, sitemaps and test reports.
Work that never shipped still counts. Include rejected solutions and explain why they were rejected; that reasoning is exactly what reviewers want to see.
04Junior vs senior portfolios
Juniors are judged on potential: clear thinking, a learning mindset and honest reflection. Seniors are judged on range and judgment: harder problems, influence on the team and business outcomes. If you are a student, NN/g suggests getting an internship if you can, using realistic constraints in projects and acknowledging where school work was unrealistic.
- Junior: 2 or 3 deep case studies, including a well-documented school or personal project.
- Mid-level: 3 or 4 shipped projects with measured outcomes.
- Senior: 3 to 5 projects showing strategy, leadership and range.
05Format and site
A website is standard, with each case study on its own page and a short home page that lists them with one-line summaries. Keep it fast and readable on a laptop and a phone. What makes a good portfolio website covers structure and the AI website builder for UX designers is one way to build it quickly. Many designers also keep a PDF version for applications.
06Mistakes that cost interviews
Each of these is quick to fix and removes a reason for a reviewer to move on.
- Long case studies with no summary at the top.
- "We" everywhere, so your contribution is unclear.
- Only polished final screens, with no research or reasoning.
- Outcomes that are vague ("improved the experience") or missing.
07Keep a project log as you work
NN/g's last step is to save artifacts from new projects for future case studies. A folder per project with sketches, research notes, test results and before and after screens turns tomorrow's case study into an afternoon's work.
What people who tried it say
UX practitioners on Stack Exchange and Hacker News agree the case study's thinking matters most; Hacker News readers noted that portfolios of designers at large companies are often visually plain.
- Thoughts on creating a portfolio?User Experience Stack Exchange
Hiring designers say they want to see how a project progressed, dead ends included, not just final screens; one suggests a password-protected area for client work with a short description and the deliverables.
- See world-class design portfolios from designers at Google, Meta, Tesla and moreHacker News
Readers noted that many portfolios from designers at big companies look plain, a reminder that hiring managers judge the thinking in the case studies more than the site's styling.
Looking for more first-hand opinions? Search Reddit for “ux portfolio examples”. We link the live threads rather than summarizing them, so you read them in full.
Our take
write the case study for someone who will read only the summary and the headings. If those alone tell the story, the rest will get read.
Where this falls short
NN/g's article dates from 2019; the advice has held up, but hiring markets change. Expectations also differ between agencies, product companies and consultancies.
Orlume can design a UX portfolio site with a project index and long-form case study pages from a short description, ready to fill with your work.
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Sources
- 1.5 steps to creating a UX-design portfolio · Nielsen Norman Group
- 2.5 principles of exceptional case studies in UX portfolios · UX Tools
- 3.Tips for UX portfolios from a recruiter · Toptal
Researched and written by the Orlume team · Updated October 2026
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