Build a research
portfolio from your resume.
The fastest way for a UX researcher to build a portfolio website is to paste an existing research resume into Portfolio, which reads your studies, methods, and impact and drafts a clean, study-led site in about a minute. You then expand two or three studies into question, method, and decision, anonymise every participant, and publish to your own domain. It is a better fit than a generic drag-and-drop builder because it starts from your resume and produces a matched, ATS-safe resume alongside the site, which is the document most hiring pipelines screen first.
Three ways to build it.
A researcher can build a portfolio by hand, in a generic website builder, or by pasting a resume into Portfolio. Here is how the three compare on the things that matter for a research role.
| What a researcher needs | By hand | Generic site builder | Portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to first draft | Hours to days | An evening of setup | About a minute |
| Built from your research resume | No, you write it all | No, an empty canvas | Yes, paste and go |
| Structured study writeups | If you build it | You lay it out yourself | Long-form designs ready |
| Matched ATS-safe resume | Separate tool | No | 48 layouts, live scoring |
| Custom domain with TLS | Manual hosting setup | On paid plans | On every plan, automatic |
| Coding needed | Often yes | No | No |
| Reads on the first crawl | Depends how you host | Often client-rendered | Server-rendered HTML |
A generic builder is the right call if you want a fully custom visual layout and enjoy building it. For a resume-driven study-led site done in a minute, that is what Portfolio is for.
From resume to site, for a researcher.
The build is the same paste-and-edit flow, with the study structure a researcher needs already in place. Here is the exact sequence.
Drop in your research resume or a LinkedIn export. The parser pulls out your methods, tools, and the decisions your studies drove.
You get an about page, a studies section, a methods block, and contact, each grounded in what your resume actually says.
Grow two or three studies into question, method, and impact, and strip any name, face, or identifying quote, then pick a long-form design.
Connect a custom domain and Portfolio issues TLS automatically. The pages ship as real HTML a recruiter or an AI answer engine can read.
The same paste also produces a matched resume with a live ATS score, which is the document most research pipelines screen first.
Words to keep in the resume.
The builder produces a resume as well as a site. Make sure the competencies a research recruiter searches are present in it, in the exact terms they use.
Run the finished resume through the free ATS score checker against a real posting before you apply.
Designs that suit a researcher.
Of the 60 designs and 48 resume layouts, these are the ones to reach for, and the ones to skip, for a research site.
A design that carries a study as a readable report with clear sections and room for a redacted artefact or a simple chart. It suits evidence-first work and keeps the method legible.
Gallery layouts invite raw session imagery you must never publish and reward pictures over reasoning. They pull you toward exactly the participant data that has to stay out.
Pick a single-column layout so a methods list and tool stack parse in order, and lead each role with a study and the decision it drove, not a task.
A domain in your own name reads as more established than a free subdomain and is easy to include in an application or a portfolio-review request.
When the builder is the wrong tool.
Portfolio is a resume-to-website builder, not a fit for every research situation. Here is where it helps and where a different route wins.
Use the builder if you
- +Already have a research resume and want a study-led site from it without an evening of layout work.
- +Are applying to research roles where a portfolio is expected and the interview walks through your studies.
- +Have studies you can anonymise cleanly, or can rebuild one on a personal or open project.
- +Want the matched ATS-safe resume the same paste produces.
Choose another route if you
- −Only have work you cannot anonymise or that consent forms forbid you to publish. Rebuild a shareable study first.
- −Would be tempted to include a face, name, or identifying quote. If in doubt, leave it out entirely.
- −Want a bespoke interactive research repository as the centrepiece. A dedicated tool suits that better.
- −Are on a deadline. Prepare your study walkthrough and fix the resume first, then build the site.
Building a research site.
The practical questions researchers ask before they build.
What is the best portfolio builder for a UX researcher?
The best builder for a researcher is one that starts from your resume and gives each study room to run as a structured report, with the question and the decision framing it. Portfolio does this and produces a matched, ATS-safe resume alongside the site. A generic builder can also work if you are willing to lay out each study yourself and do not need the resume.
Do I need to know how to code to build a research portfolio?
No. You paste your resume, expand the drafted studies, add any redacted artefacts, choose a design, and publish. Portfolio handles hosting and the TLS certificate for your custom domain, so there is no HTML or CSS to write.
How does the builder keep participant data out?
The builder only uses what you write, so the responsibility to anonymise is yours. After the draft appears, replace names with codes, remove or blur faces and screens, and paraphrase any quote that would identify someone. The consent your participants gave covered research, not publication, so treat every identifying detail as off-limits before you publish.
Can I connect my own domain?
Yes, on every plan, and Portfolio issues the TLS certificate automatically. A domain in your own name reads as more established than a free subdomain and is easy to add to an application or a portfolio-review request.
How long does it take to build a research portfolio?
The first full draft appears in about a minute after you paste your resume. Expanding two or three studies and anonymising every artefact usually takes an hour or two, since the careful redaction is the real work. Connecting a custom domain adds a few minutes while DNS propagates.
Keep going.
See what to include, test your resume, or read the full product.
Common mistakes on a UX research portfolio.
A UX researcher is hired to find the truth about users and get a team to act on it. Most research portfolios prove neither. Here are the mistakes that keep strong researchers out of the shortlist.
Mistake one: showing findings, not method
A portfolio that lists insights with no method behind them asks the reader to take the conclusions on faith. A research lead wants to see the how: the question, why you chose the method you did, how you recruited, and how you avoided leading your participants. The rigour is the hire, and rigour is invisible if you only show the slide of findings.
Mistake two: no line to a decision
Research that changed nothing is a common and quiet failure. For at least one study, show what the team did differently because of it. A researcher who can trace a finding to a shipped change proves the part that separates a report writer from a researcher who has influence.
Mistake three: exposing participants
Session recordings, quotes, and faces belong to the people who gave them, often under a consent form that never anticipated a public portfolio. Never publish an identifiable participant. Use anonymised quotes, abstract the recruitment, and strip anything that could identify a person or a client. A lead reads participant care as a core competency, not a formality.
Mistake four: one method, over and over
A page that is all usability tests, or all surveys, reads as a narrow researcher. Show range across the questions that call for different methods, generative and evaluative, qualitative and quantitative. One well-chosen study of each kind proves you match the method to the question rather than to your comfort.
Where the work belongs
Put your methods and domains in the landing section. Use the work section for two or three studies, each with the question, the method, and the decision it drove. Keep the about section for how you think about evidence and influence, which is what a research lead is assessing.
Paste a resume.
Get a research site.
Start free. Drop in your research resume and get a clean, study-led website plus a matched ATS-safe resume in about a minute. Connect your own domain when you are ready.