Table of Contents
- The $150K decision that changed everything
- What can a personal brand do?
- 6-step framework to build your personal brand as a UX designer
- 1. Define your personal brand goals
- Ask yourself these questions:
- 2. Define your brand’s What, How, Why?
- Ask yourself these questions:
- 3. Define your audience
- Ask yourself these questions:
- 4. Define their needs
- Ask yourself these questions:
- 5. Define your brand’s values
- Ask yourself these questions:
- 6. Find your brand personality
- Ask yourself these questions:
- Putting your UX personal brand into action
- 1. Create a consistent online presence
- 2. Develop your content strategy
- 3. Build proof through projects
- Common personal branding mistakes you can make
- ❌ Copying other designers
- ❌ Being overly perfect
- ❌ Spreading yourself too thin
- ❌ Focusing on vanity metrics
- ❌ Neglecting in-person opportunities
- Your brand is your career insurance
- TL;DR
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The $150K decision that changed everything
I rejected a $150K job offer.
Not because I'm crazy. Not because I hate money (trust me, no one does!). But because I was building something more valuable—a (personal) brand that would pay dividends for years to come.
This wasn't some impulsive decision made after watching one too many Gary Vee videos. It was calculated. Strategic. And honestly? Terrifying at the time.
Looking back? Turns out, it was the best decision I’ve ever made.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Could I do that too?” — keep reading 😉
What can a personal brand do?
The difference between my pre-brand vs. post-brand reality was mind-boggling:
❌ Me without a personal brand:
- Endless hours job searching.
- Fighting for a measly 5% raise each year.
- Attending awkward networking events where I'd collect business cards destined for my desk drawer.
✅ Me with a personal brand:
- Paid to speak at UX events.
- DMs filled with recruiters (like, actually good ones)
- 50+ new partnership opportunities in 2024 alone.
This transformation didn't happen because I had the world's prettiest Dribbble shots. It was a message that resonated with my audience. A deliberate strategy that positioned me as a voice worth listening to in the UX design community.
I break down the strategy I used to make this happen below 👇
Steal all my personal branding secrets ⤵️
6-step framework to build your personal brand as a UX designer
Building a UX personal brand isn’t about becoming a design celebrity or slapping ‘Storyteller. Dreamer. Pixel-pusher’ in your bio.
It’s about clarity, consistency and showing up confidently with what you know (even if you're still figuring it out on the fly).
If you’ve ever felt invisible despite being damn good at what you do, this 6-step framework is for you. Let’s make sure the right people are paying attention. Starting now!
1. Define your personal brand goals
Every strong personal brand starts with one thing: Clarity about what the hell you’re trying to do.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What’s my actual outcome here?
- Do I want to earn more? How much more?
- Do I want a job, clients, partnerships, or fame?
- Am I building authority… or just cosplaying a thought leader?
- Where do I want to be in 3 years & does my brand help get me there?
Example
- Earn $200K+ per year
- Land a design leadership role
- Build a passive income stream
- Get hired by a specific B2B SaaS company
👟 Action step: Write down at least 5 specific goals. Then, narrow them down to the top 2 that matter most right now.
For each goal, add a "because" statement.
Earn $200K+ because “I want to live somewhere where the kitchen and bathroom aren't the same room". That hits different than just "make more money."
2. Define your brand’s What, How, Why?
This step is inspired by Simon Sinek's Golden Circle concept but with less management consultant vibes and more practical application.
Ask yourself these questions:
👉 What do I do? (or want to do)
- Create design systems that scale
- Design accessible UX for enterprise products
- Make ugly websites pretty (let's be honest LOL)
👉 How do I do it? (your unique approach)
- Create frameworks that simplify decision-making
- Build comprehensive playbooks that guide designers
- Combine behavioral psychology with design principles
👉 Why do I do it? (your motivation)
- Make technology more human
- Create the resources I wish existed when I started
- Someone needs to stop companies from making terrible user experiences
👟 Action step: Generate at least 10 ideas for each category. Then, select the one from each that most authentically represents you.
Test your what/how/why with the "so what?" test.
After each statement, ask yourself "so what?" If you can't give a compelling answer, it's too generic. Keep refining until each statement passes this test.
3. Define your audience
A common mistake designers make is trying to appeal to everyone.
It's like trying to make a playlist that works for both your teenage cousin and your grandma, technically possible, but usually results in nobody being happy.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Who needs to hear my message?
- Whose problems do I secretly love solving?
- Who already values what I bring to the table?
- What kind of companies “get” me and my vibe?
- Who do I actually want to work with (or work for)?
Example
- Junior designers seeking mentorship
- Heads of Design looking for managers
- Recruiters specializing in design positions
- Tech companies looking to hire senior UX talent
👟 Action step: Identify at least 5 potential audience segments. Then, select the top 2 you want to focus on initially.
Find 3-5 people who represent your target audience and study their online behavior.
What content do they engage with? What questions do they ask? What language do they use? This real-world data is gold for shaping your approach.
Land your next role with Job Sprint —165+ micro-video lessons directly from years of experience hiring UX designers as UX Managers.
4. Define their needs
This is where your UX research skills come in handy. Finally, a chance to use those user interview techniques on something other than a banking app redesign!
Ask yourself these questions:
- What questions are they Googling?
- What’s the mistake they keep making?
- What do they complain about but never solve?
- What’s keeping them up at night (besides Netflix)?
- What are my audience's needs, desires & challenges?
Example
If your audience is junior designers, it might be:
- Why does nobody respond to my job applications?
- How do I build a portfolio without real work experience?
👟 Action step: List at least 20 potential needs your audience might have. Then, prioritize the top 3 that you're best positioned to address.
Look at the gaps between what your audience needs and what existing content provides.
The questions people ask that get inadequate answers are your biggest opportunities.
5. Define your brand’s values
Values aren't just corporate buzzwords your CEO throws on a slide before skipping to the budget cuts. They're what make people trust you. Remember you. Recommend you.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What do I stand for as a designer?
- What makes me great to work with?
- What pisses me off in the UX world?
- What design principles do I never compromise on?
- What do I believe makes design actually valuable to users?
Example
- Professional values: reliability, efficiency, attention to detail.
- Personal values: empathy, continuous learning, design ethics.
👟 Action step: List at least 20 potential values. Then, identify the top 3 that truly define your approach to design work.
For each value, write down a specific example of how you've demonstrated it.
"I value accessibility" is nice, but "I refused to ship a product until we fixed critical accessibility issues, even when my PM was breathing down my neck" tells a story about who you really are.
6. Find your brand personality
No one follows a personal brand that feels like it was assembled by ChatGPT. Your brand personality is what makes you memorable and authentic
Think of it this way: technical skills get you considered, but personality gets you remembered.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What kind of person am I naturally?
- When I’m at my best—how do I show up?
- What do people say it’s like to work with me?
- Do I lead with humor, clarity, data, empathy?
- Is there a “tone gap” between how I write and who I really am?
- What three words would I want someone to associate with my brand?
Example
- The teacher – Calm, clear, loves making things make sense
- The challenger – Calls out BS, asks bold questions, stirs the pot
- The experimenter – Curious, playful, fails fast, laughs about it later
- The visionary – Big-picture thinker, future-obsessed, lives in “what if?”
- The craftsperson – Precision-focused, detail-lover, design snob (in a good way)
👟 Action step: Identify at least 20 personality traits that describe you. Then, select the top 3 that you want to emphasize in your professional brand.
Ask 5 people who know you well to describe your personality in 3 words.
Look for patterns. If everyone says you're "meticulous" but you're trying to brand yourself as "spontaneous," you might have a problem.
Land your next role with Job Sprint —165+ micro-video lessons directly from years of experience hiring UX designers as UX Managers.
Putting your UX personal brand into action
Alright, so you’ve got the framework. Congrats!
Now, don’t let it collect dust like that gym membership you swore you'd use. It’s time to activate your personal brand in ways that make the right people say, “Who’s that?” — and more importantly, “Can we hire them?”
1. Create a consistent online presence
Pick 2-3 platforms where your people hang out. You don’t need to be everywhere, but you do need to be somewhere.
- LinkedIn — For industry connections & job opportunities
- Twitter/X — For thought leadership & community building
- Medium — For in-depth case studies & process articles
Consistency is key.
Your profiles should be like a well-designed portfolio—clean, unified, and easy to understand.
2. Develop your content strategy
If content is the fuel for your personal brand, then your strategy is the engine. And trust me, you don’t want to be running on fumes.
Start with these:
- Content pillars: 3-5 themes that align with your expertise and audience needs
- Content formats: case studies, process breakdowns, opinion pieces, tutorials
- Publishing cadence: weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly (consistency matters more than frequency)
Example
If one of your content pillars is "Ethical UX Design," you might create:
- An opinion piece on privacy by design
- A checklist for evaluating dark patterns
- A case study showing how you improved a consent form
Keep your content laser-focused.
Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Stick to your content pillars and become the go-to person in that niche.
3. Build proof through projects
Your work is the ultimate way to say, “I’m good at this.” Don’t just talk about your expertise—show it.
These might include:
- Side projects: build something on your own to showcase your skills and values.
- Open-source contributions: Drop some code or design systems on GitHub that prove you’re in it for the community.
- Writing/speaking: share your thoughts and insights through blogs or speaking engagements to position yourself as a thought leader.
Your projects should reflect the brand you’re building.
Every side-project or contribution should be a mini-campaign for your expertise. Because when you show up, you want people to notice
Common personal branding mistakes you can make
❌ Copying other designers
Your power lies in your uniqueness.
I've seen too many designers try to become "the next [famous designer]" instead of the first version of themselves.
❌ Being overly perfect
Vulnerability and authenticity connect.
Showing your process, including the messy parts, makes your content more valuable and relatable than only sharing polished final products.
❌ Spreading yourself too thin
It's better to be consistent on one platform than sporadically active on five. Start with one channel, master it, and then expand.
❌ Focusing on vanity metrics
Follower counts matter less than engagement with the right people.
One comment from a design director at your dream company is worth more than 1,000 likes from random accounts.
❌ Neglecting in-person opportunities
Digital presence is important, but face-to-face interactions often lead to the biggest opportunities.
Look for speaking engagements, workshops, and industry meetups to bring your personal brand into the real world.
Your brand is your career insurance
Building a personal brand as a UX designer isn’t about ego. Or chasing clout. Or becoming “design famous.”
It’s career insurance & in today’s job market, you’ll want full coverage.
When you have a strong personal brand:
- You name your rate & people pay it
- You’re not glued to job boards at 11 PM
- The right opportunities slide into your DMs
- You’ve got a network that actually has your back (not just “likes” your post)
Now, thousands of designers can push pixels, test prototypes, and make things “delightful.”
What can’t they replicate? You. Your vibe. Your story. Your spicy combo of skills and perspective.
That’s why a personal brand is an investment that will pay dividends throughout your entire career.
Don’t hesitate. Start building it today!
Future you—with the chill calendar and $500/hour rate—will high-five you later 😉
TL;DR
The 6-step framework to build UX design personal brand
- Define personal brand goals
- Define your brand’s What, How, Why?
- Define your personal brand’s values
- Define the audience for your personal brand
- Define your audience’s needs
- Find your brand personality
Whenever you're ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
1. Junior Designer Bundle: Transition into UX and craft an unforgettable portfolio & get hired.
2. Senior Designer Bundle: Become a design leader with systems to build healthier, happier teams.
3. UX Portfolio Critique: In less than 48 hours, get your 30-minute personalised video of brutally honest feedback.
4. Job Sprint Course: Stand out in an unpredictable job market by building a memorable personal brand and a killer job search strategy.
