Resume Guide · Design
The UX Designer resume, decoded.
UX designer resumes face a unique challenge: demonstrating visual thinking through a text-based document. ATS systems look for research methods, design tools, and user-centered design vocabulary.
ATS score92
Aria Nakamura
Senior UX Designer
Seattle, WA · arianakamura.design
Experience
Senior UX Designer2021 – Present
Tidewater Apps
- Redesigned 3 core user flows in Figma, increasing checkout conversion 35% and cutting drop-off by half.
- Ran 24 usability sessions and card-sorting studies that reshaped the information architecture for 80K users.
- Built a WCAG 2.1 AA-compliant design system adopted by 5 product teams.
UX Designer2018 – 2021
Meridian Digital
- Delivered wireframes and interactive prototypes for 12 client engagements.
- Mapped user journeys that informed a mobile-first redesign, lifting task completion 28%.
Skills
FigmaUser ResearchPrototypingUsability TestingDesign SystemsAccessibilityInformation Architecture
Education
B.Des Interaction Design — University of Washington, 2018
- Portfolio URL in the header — the first thing both parsers and humans should find.
- Named tool + flow count + conversion metric: design impact made extractable.
- "Figma", "Usability Testing", "Accessibility" — each an explicit filter term.
The problem
Where ux designer resumes die.
Before a recruiter ever sees your resume, parsing and ranking software decides whether they will. For ux designers, these are the failure points.
On the page
- 01Portfolio link not prominent enough
- 02Missing UX research methodology keywords
- 03Tool names not explicitly listed
- 04Design impact not quantified
Inside the ATS
- 05Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD must be listed explicitly as individual tools
- 06Research methods (interviews, surveys, card sorting) need separate mentions
- 07Accessibility (WCAG, a11y) is increasingly filtered for
The fix
Same experience. Different resume.
Ranking algorithms reward specificity: metrics, named tools, scale. Here is the same line from a ux designer resume, before and after.
Before
Designed screens and improved the user experience.
After
Redesigned 3 core user flows in Figma, increasing checkout conversion 35% and cutting drop-off by half.
Before
Conducted user research for product decisions.
After
Ran 24 usability sessions and card-sorting studies that reshaped the information architecture for 80K users.
- Quantify impact: "Redesign increased conversion by 35% across 3 user flows"
- Lead with portfolio: make your portfolio URL the first thing visible
- Balance research and execution: show you can discover AND deliver
The vocabulary
The words the machine listens for.
These are the exact terms ATS filters scan ux designer applications for. If a keyword genuinely describes your experience, it belongs on the page — verbatim.
Skills
FigmaUser ResearchWireframingPrototypingUsability TestingDesign SystemsInformation ArchitectureInteraction DesignAccessibilityUser Journey Mapping
Filters match exact strings. Write “Figma”, not a synonym — and keep abbreviations next to their expansions.
The product
Rejectly reads your resume the way the machine does. Then fixes it.
Job Match Analysis
For a specific UX Designer posting
- Paste a ux designer job description
- Get a fully rewritten resume matching that specific role
- Every keyword, achievement, and bullet point optimized
ATS Optimizer
No job description needed
- Tests against Workday, Greenhouse, Taleo & Lever
- Finds the parsing failures that silently reject you
- One-click optimization with downloadable PDF
Still sending the same resume to every job?
Every job has different keywords, different ATS filters, different expectations. A tailored resume for each application is the difference between getting rejected and getting hired.
