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I am working on my UI/UX Designer portfolio and I have 4-5 projects to choose from what to include. I will need to write about the process that I had during these projects etc. But recently, when I used one app that I use quite often, I spotted one UX problem that I instantly understood that would need to be fixed. That will make the user navigating the app without frustrating situations. It's quite a small fix to make, but it will make the app better. My question is - would that be a good idea to include this type of case in my portfolio?

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  • I dont understand the question? A UX proplem in an app you designed?
    – tim human
    Oct 6, 2020 at 10:26
  • No. I have an app that I use almost every day and I discovered one small UX problem that would be nice to fix. Would that be a good idea to make a use case for this to add it to my portfolio?
    – istoby
    Oct 6, 2020 at 10:28
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    @istoby Yes, that would be a great portfolio piece. There are countless of redesigns of established websites and platforms on Behance and Dribbble, and some of the best ones focus on UX by trying to improve those websites and explain why and how.
    – Jos van Weesel
    Oct 6, 2020 at 12:04
  • @SirExotic Great. Regarding Dribble, I think this platform is more like a beautiful image showcasing rather than UX cases.
    – istoby
    Oct 6, 2020 at 12:08

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Definitely, most of the UX Designers' vacancies require the capability of suggesting design enhancements on already existing UI's etc.

And having an ability to spot other's bugs or to suggest improvement is considered a big deal (alongside the actual UI/UX requirements & standards).

Good luck.

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I've seen a lot of portfolios that propose solutions for UX problems in popular apps, streaming services, etc. I don't think this is a good idea for a portfolio because:

  • You're not familiar with the app's prioritized users and their tasks. What seems like a UX issue to you (maybe not the right user) might be fine for the app's intended users.
  • The problem you're solving might be obvious, but the company could be working on changing the platform in such a major way that what you propose as a fix might be very different from what the company ultimately does to fix the problem. If you don't work there, you wouldn't have the necessary insights for that.

Here's an example: a new UXer once put a lot of effort into redesigning Netflix; they made it the lead case study in their portfolio. The redesign was beautiful and it made browsing categories much easier. A month later, Netflix released a whole new experience that didn't solve the problem of browsing -- it solved the problem of people not being interested enough in their movies to learn more about them. The hard work that went into the portfolio now seemed obsolete.

A caveat: if I were a junior UX designer looking for a job, I would definitely have a list of "good UX" and "bad UX" examples that you've seen. because that's a popular interview question.

But when you talk about another company's bad UX, always be careful, and preface it with, "I don't necessarily know what this company's UX goals and constraints are, but based on what I've learned from experience and heuristics, this could be a potential problem."

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  • Thank you for your suggestion! I have seen use cases where designers just take any website or app and just start doing everything regarding UX process. Is that a normal approach? Or make a use case only for website or app, where I as a designer see problem and then with my UX skills go through the process and show how I solved it?
    – istoby
    Oct 6, 2020 at 19:21
  • Redesigning "any website or app" without knowing its goals and users looks very amateurish. It's done a lot, but a company that understands UX would not consider that to be a legitimate portfolio item.
    – Izquierdo
    Oct 6, 2020 at 19:32
  • Do you think this use case fits in this amateurish spot? uxdesign.cc/fitbit-a-usability-case-study-b23e4c539c3c
    – istoby
    Oct 6, 2020 at 19:48
  • "I created a provisional persona of a potential Fitbit user based on online research and my understanding of people who I knew that used Fitbit." A lot of Medium articles are like this... when you base your entire redesign off of "people you know", you're introducing your own biases into the project. Plus she doesn't have access to a lot of other research that FitBit's product team has done that might conflict with her assumptions.
    – Izquierdo
    Oct 6, 2020 at 22:40

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