Hi there! I am looking at creating a portfolio but am unable to think of topics or target audiences. How do I decide what to create without knowing the actual audience/topic? Please suggest.
I am wondering about the purpose of the portfolio. Do you want to use it to showcase it to prospective clients?
Hi there! Portfolios are critical and designing them well is so challenging. I reached out to my network and conducted informational interviews to gather insights on potential target audiences or industries. This helped me identify specific needs or challenges that can be addressed through your portfolio pieces. You may also check out Tim Slade’s portfolio online. Good luck with your portfolio creation journey!
Hi! See if this helps you decide. Think about hobbies, activities, or industries you are passionate about and find a way to integrate instructional design concepts into them. By aligning your portfolio with your interests, you can demonstrate authenticity and enthusiasm in your work.
Creating a portfolio can be an exciting endeavor, and I understand your dilemma about not having a specific audience or topic in mind yet. I would go with what DavidHose has to say +
Self reflection
Identify your niche
Explore diverse topics
Everyone goes through this. This is what I did. When deciding what to create for my portfolio without knowing the actual audience or topic, I focused on demonstrating my instructional design skills and expertise. I created sample learning modules or courses that covered fundamental instructional design principles or best practices.
I would suggest providing a variety of examples, showing how YOU approach delivering different types of content, with each example being very brief, such as:
- interactive software simulation
- lecture-ish material, such as introducing terminology definitions, and/or a high level introduction to an abstract concept
- explanation or demonstration of a step-by-step process
- quiz/knowledge check/assessment questions/challenges
If you can keep all of these types of content related, so that you’re essentially creating a tiny but cohesive course, complete with SMART learning objectives, maybe a little bit of target audience flexibility (so an “expert” learner can skip something very basic that they already know; or so a newbie can click to find additional information), that should give potential employers/clients a good idea of your overall instructional design style and skills.
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