Nondisclosure agreements are common when doing UX work. When creating your portfolio, restrictions on displaying identifying information about the company, its users, or the project details can be frustrating. However, there are ways to show your work without violating the NDA.

- Show process rather than images. Highlight communication skills like workshop facilitation or early design concepts through sketches or black-and-white wireframes.
- Redact or blur out any identifying information. 
- Make it generic. Recreate your designs using different styles to ensure the colors and brand style do not identify the client (this can be time consuming.

Navigating NDA's

"If you’re short on time but still want to make a big impact, focus on a project or two where you had to incorporate a wide variety of UX and design skills. These case studies will be in depth and will show off your versatility."

“I don’t have a lot of time. What should I focus on?”

Even though you will often create designs that don't end up being implemented, still include candidate solutions and explain the thought process behind them. Hiring managers want to know that you’ll be able to navigate challenges and constraints, and you can show them that your work lives in reality instead of an ideal world.

“I had great ideas/designs, but they were never implemented.”

It’s difficult to present a compelling design portfolio if all you have is student projects. We strongly recommend doing an internship so that you have at least one real-world project to show. If you can only pull from student projects right now, choose problems that have business relevance and had the most realistic constraints. Try to acknowledge any unrealistic elements of your student projects in your portfolio description so managers know you have awareness about the scope and limitations of your project.

“I’m a student.”

- NDA's
- “I don’t have a lot of time. What should I focus on?”
- “I had great ideas/designs, but they were never implemented.”
- “I’m a student.”

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

"Summary: A portfolio highlighting your design process and past work shows others who you are as a designer. The process of creating a UX-design portfolio allows you to reflect on your skills and achievements."

- What Hiring Managers Are Looking For
- Putting It Together
- Navigating Roadblocks

5 Steps to creating a UX-Design Portfolio

By Rachel Krause on August 4, 2019
Topics: UX Teams
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-design-portfolios/
Copyright © 1998-2020 Nielsen Norman Group, All Rights Reserved.

NNG Reference Article: "5 Steps to Creating a UX-Design Portfolio"

Your portfolio will be viewed by hiring managers, recruiters, or fellow UX professionals, so it must appeal to these different groups of people. Think about which capabilities you want to showcase (prioritize) and how each group will understand this information. Very rarely will hiring managers take the time to read your entire portfolio word for word. This is one reason why your portfolio should be scannable.

A question you should consider throughout creating your portfolio is "What are the top three things about you and your work that a reader of your portfolio should take away?"

A quote from a research study: a UX professional says “I’m curious to know what isn’t in the design and why, just as much as I’d like to know why elements made it in.” as well as "Don’t just show me the finished product. I want to see the messy process and all the work and research that was put in to land on that shiny polished design."


What Hiring Managers Are Looking For

- Step 1: Take Inventory of All Your Projects
- Step 2: Choose 3–5 Projects as Detailed Case Studies
- Step 3: Choose Your Desired Format
- Step 4: Create Your Portfolio
- Step 5: Get Feedback and Iterate

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