- Introductions 
- Top 10 UX Portfolio Questions 
- How to Tell a Story Examples 
- Your Turn 
- Q & A
Troy Parke 
! 
AAS, BSCE, MSCE 
UW - Civil Engineering 
Likes Hello Kitty 
Uses multiple text boxes 
Drinks Diet Coke 
Patrick Neeman 
! 
Three Time Dropout 
Print Design Background 
Has a great goatee 
Presentation has funny photos 
Sophisticated Whiskey Drinker
@usabilitycounts 
Who’s Patrick Neeman? 
Almost 20 years of UX and Web Experience 
Runs UsabilityCounts.com and UXDrinkingGame.com 
Built several UX teams 
Drinks Whiskey
Troy Parke
@uxhow | http://www.uxhow.com
Top 10 UX Portfolio 
Questions & Answers
How many pieces should 
be in a portfolio?
Be Selective 
(Reviewers are too)
- Worst piece remembered 
- Be relevant, real & ready 
- Small number is enough
How to present and how 
much detail to include?
Tell them a story 
(The work won’t “speak for itself”)
To Be Continued……
How do I show work I did 
with a group or team?
- Your title at the time 
- Identify as group work 
- Avoid dissecting screens
I did the 
red part!
I did the 
red part!
LaiYee Lori
Emi Matsumoto
Emi Matsumoto
Can I include student work?
Ideally... No. 
(At least not all student work.)
- Show shipped work ASAP 
- Take lots of photos 
- Collaborate
Haeree Park
Ashlimarie Dong
Ashlimarie Dong
How do you handle NDA work?
Carefully
- Honor legal agreements 
- Protect your reputation 
- Managers understand
How do you choose 
what to include?
Hand out roses.
- Representative 
- Relatively recent 
- Instantly recognizable
What do you not like seeing 
missing or included?
Lying, NSFW & Not Online.
- Must be online 
- Email & phone number 
- NSFW content 
- Lying with intention 
- Lying by omission
How long do you spend 
looking at a portfolio?
10-15 Seconds 
(Seriously.)
- Twice as long as recruiters 
- Apply the 5 second test 
- Team will review in detail
Nick Berry
- Who? 
- What? 
- Projects?
Nick Berry
What do you look for 
in a portfolio?
Is this someone 
I want to interview?
- Not hired for portfolio 
- Gets your foot in the door 
- Have to know how to…
your story { 
UX Portfolios How to tell 
Patrick Neeman 
Director of Product Design, Apptio 
@usabilitycounts 
http://www.usabilitycounts.com 
Troy Parke 
Former Sr UX Design Manager, Big Fish 
@uxhow 
http://www.uxhow.com
How you tell your story 
is as important as the story itself 
@usabilitycounts @uxhow
@usabilitycounts @uxhow 
Tell stories 
that fit your 
audience 
• Designers 
• Developers 
• Product Managers
Tell stories 
that sell 
• Explain visually 
• Light and concise 
• Keep them engaged 
@usabilitycounts @uxhow
@usabilitycounts @uxhow 
Tell stories 
that have an 
awesome 
ending 
• ROI 
• Results 
• Outcome
Tell big stories 
@usabilitycounts @uxhow
• Problem 
• Process 
• Involvement 
• Final Product 
• Press / Awards 
• Outcome }Story 
@usabilitycounts @uxhow
Examples of how 
to tell your story
Portfolio
Behance
Behance
Behance
Portfolio
Portfolio
Portfolio
Portfolio
Presentation Deck
< start >
- Key technology acquired. 
- Streaming as delivery channel. 
- Long tail consumers.
Are download and streaming games just 
fundamentally different experiences?
- Unusable at small size. 
- Core business value was “No Ads”. 
- Value of a non-paying customer. 
- How to show a better experience?
Your games from anywhere.
Explain what they are getting.
Best experience first.
Integrated advertising.
Ratings and feedback.
Delayed account creation.
One year later… 
! 
- PC, Mac, Tablet, Phone & Roku. 
- Over 4.5 stars with 1200 reviews. 
- 300+ games with A New Game Everyday
Marry the problem, not the solution
< end >
Ready?
In theory there is no difference between 
theory and practice. In practice there is. 
- Yogi Berra
- Takes time and iteration 
- Ask other designers 
- Get coffee
Thank-you.
Questions?
Troy Parke | @uxhow | http://www.uxhow.com

Creating Professional Portfolios - Top 10 UX Portfolio Questions and Story Examples