The portfolio beats experience
78%
rely on the portfolio to judge role fit. It outweighs the CV, industry experience, and the name of any past employer.
State of UX portfolios 2026
Explore how
portfolios
are reviewed
Key insights
Websites beat every other format
72%
prefer a portfolio website over any other format, ahead of Figma prototypes, PDFs, and presentation slides.
AI isn’t doing the screening
71%
say their organization doesn't use AI to review portfolios. The AI-screening panic is mostly a myth, a person is still reading.
“If I cannot find the projects within the first 30 seconds, I reject it immediately.”
“I view the portfolio as an example of the work a candidate would deliver to clients.”
“If a portfolio is shared as a Google Drive folder, I tend to move it to the back of the pile.”
“AI doesn't reduce the value of portfolios — it raises the bar for them.”
Inside the report
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Bonus
The first pass is a scan, not a read
How much time you really get, what reviewers check first, and who is actually reading.
Your portfolio should be a website
Which format wins, what ends a review before it starts, and why templates matter less than you think.
How case studies get chosen
How reviewers choose which case study to open, how many projects they want, and what a project card has to say.
Your thinking is what matters
What makes a case study strong, the weakness reviewers cite most, and what to do with NDA work.
AI should be a tool, not the author
How reviewers spot it, where they draw the line, and how to disclose it without losing trust.
Red flags & advice from reviewers
The eight things most likely to make a reviewer stop, ranked, and the advice reviewers most want you to hear, in their own words.
Who we asked
People involved in UX and product design hiring, mostly design leads and directors, nearly all of them reviewing portfolios themselves.
01
Who answered
02
What they do
03
Who they hire
04