Tips for Updating a Designer Portfolio

In the past week, I've reviewed almost 400 applications for our Product Designer position at Heyo. Here's what stood out and helped candidates move to the interview phase: 1. Impressive Work: We’re looking for portfolio pieces that make us pause and think, "We want this in our portfolio." Your work should excite us and match the quality our clients expect. 2. Match Your Work to Our Quality: A tip I share with mentees is to screenshot a company’s portfolio and replace a few of their graphics with your work. Does it match their quality? If your work is within a 25% range of our current projects, I’m interested and see growth potential. If it’s better, heck yes, now I’m excited to see if you can raise our bar. 3. Show End Results First: Start with the final product. I appreciate detailed case studies, but show the goods up front. Make me want to scroll through the rest of your work, not feel obligated. 4. Prune Your Portfolio: Remove weaker projects to raise the "average score" we may rate your portfolio. Ask friends for honest feedback. A streamlined portfolio of strong work can transform your presentation. 5. Show the Work Clearly: Ensure your portfolio has relevant preview images. If I don't see exciting work immediately (or the image doesn't pertain to your project), I might not click through to the case study. 6. Optimize Your Site: Slow sites with heavy animations are frustrating. Make sure your portfolio loads quickly and is easy to navigate. 7. Understand the Role: Tailor your application to the type of business and role. For agencies like ours, a balanced UI/UX skillset is crucial due to quick project turnarounds. In full transparency, I've reviewed a lot of UX heavy applicants that are missing the UI skillset as well. Additional Advice: Follow Application Instructions: Apply through the job posting. Direct messages with your portfolio and CV can get lost in the shuffle. Don’t Request Calls Without Context: I’m balancing my regular workload and reviewing applications. If you want to chat, send your work first. This isn't going to skip you to an interview. Timing for Networking: I’m open to talking shop and discussing design, but during hiring seasons, it’s best to connect after things calm down. If you're interested in the Product Designer, Motion Designer, or upcoming Developer roles we'll be posting this week, you can apply at https://heyo.is/growing and subscribe to be alerted for future opportunities with us. #Design #JobSearch #Hiring #CareerAdvice #ProductDesign #PortfolioTips #ProductDesigner

I cracked 4 UX portfolio rounds using this advice from my peers. One of the most crucial steps to landing a UX internship is the portfolio deck round. This round, typically led by a designer, might or might not be preceded by a phone screening. You'll usually have 15-20 minutes per case study, allowing you to present 1 or 2 depending on the time limit. I recommend showcasing 2 projects to demonstrate a wider range of skills. Tailor your presentation to the job description, highlighting relevant areas like visual design, user research, design systems, etc. Here are 3 key things to consider beyond your core UX skills: 1. Business Goals First: Companies hire UX designers for a reason – return on investment (ROI). Emphasize how you prioritized business objectives and how your design decisions resulted in financial gains for your previous employer. 2. Embrace the T-Shaped Designer: We all want to appear exceptional, but honesty goes a long way. Focus on being a "T-Shaped" designer – having a deep expertise in one area (visual design, user research, etc.) with a broad understanding of others. Recruiters can see through inflated claims, so be genuine about your skillset. 3. Inject Personality! You're more than just a portfolio! Infuse some humor, mention your hobbies outside of UX. Show them you're a well-rounded individual and a potential team player. Pro Tip: Personalized Decks Trump Websites While many designers rely solely on their websites, I strongly recommend creating personalized decks for each company. Integrate their brand identity throughout your presentation. This small touch demonstrates your genuine interest in working with them! Following these tips helped me advance beyond the portfolio round at companies like Asana, NBCUniversal, and Sleeper, reaching the design challenge and whiteboarding stages. If you'd want to discuss more about your upcoming portfolio deck do let me know in the comments or reach out to me personally ⬇️ #UXDesign #PortfolioTips #UXInternship #DesignJobs

🤔 Design portfolio pro-tip: Level up your user flow communication through showing your decision tree. While showcasing basic user flows is a good start, hiring managers often go beyond that. In a sea of portfolios, distinguish yourself by demonstrating: 1. Deep user understanding: Embed user insights and pain points within your flow charts. 2. Creative problem-solving: Highlight how your user flows tackle specific challenges and optimize the user journey. 3. Impactful storytelling: Weave a narrative through your flows, showcasing how they influenced design decisions and drove positive outcomes. Remember, hiring managers want to see evidence of your design thinking and strategic impact, not just technical proficiency at creating a user flow chart. Instead, show your thought process: 1. What are the different types of flows you considered? 2. How did you make a decision on the end result? 3. What research, log data, audits or user feedback did you consider to make your final decision? For example, in this diagram below, my decision process could look something like this: DECISION Reason 1: Reduced onboarding steps by 3 screens Reason 2: Reduced onboarding abandonment by 30% Reason 3: Allow users to skip part of the onboarding flow and return later, increasing signups by x% Let me know if you have any questions! #design #portfolio #portfolioshowcase #uxcommunity #uxdesign #uxdesigner

Each UX/Product design case study in your portfolio needs these 2 things: 1️⃣ A top overview/impact section This is a 30-second read that provides the summary of the project and the impact you had. It also includes the final mockups and/or prototype. This makes it easy for hiring managers to quickly understand what you did, the quality of your work, and the impact it had for the company you were working for. 2️⃣ The short story of what you accomplished Right after the overview, dive into the story of what happened during the case study. Use a story arc to get there: - Context/background - Conflict - Rising action - Climax - Falling action - Resolution Use the headlines to drive the story. People don't read the smaller text, so make sure your story can be skimmed by just reading the headlines. By the end of just reading the headlines, the hiring manager should have an idea of what you did/accomplished. Make sure to break up the story with images of what you were working on and/or illustrations for the story. The resolution really matters within this section. This is where you bring up the impact you had on the project/company. What came about as a result of your work? For example, there are objective metrics that can show your impact like:  - Increased conversions - Increased successful task completion - Decreased failure rate - Increased error-free rate - Decreased time on task And there are subjective measures like asking participants: - How difficult each task was - Their level of satisfaction with each task - Their overall satisfaction   This section is always the hardest for aspiring UX/product designers because they're working on conceptual projects. We recommend our students use the objective metrics of usability testing such as successful task completion, error-free rate, decreased time on task, etc. This can show that you truly moved the needle on a feature because you can compare the before and after numbers. This, of course, isn't possible if you're creating a new feature from scratch. Instead, this is where you lean on your usability testing and what users said. You can still talk about task completion, error-free rate, time on task, etc., you just can't compare them to anything because there isn't a product to compare them to. There's one last thing you can talk about within the resolution section... You can also talk about how you're a different person than when you began. What did you learn as a result of this project? How are you a changed person? After all, you are telling a story and both you AND the product you were working on are the heroes of the story. #UX #ProductDesign #UXPortfolio

We all know we're supposed to "show instead of tell." But most design portfolios fail to do this and here's why. 👇 Designers love showcasing their raw work in their portfolios including outputs or deliverables such as: → Sketches → Diagrams → User flows → Wireframes → Sticky notes → Journey maps But to be honest, 90% of the time, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in those images. For example, I'll often come across a screenshot or picture of 25+ sticky notes, but: → They are too zoomed out. → If I zoom in, they're too blurry. → Even if I can seem them, they're too overwhelming. Then I start asking myself questions such as: → Am I supposed to read every sticky note? → What's important about these sticky notes? → Is this worth my time and attention to decipher? This is where storytelling comes in. What if instead of showing a raw zoomed out screenshot of sticky notes, we instead pulled out the key highlights and takeaways? Then we can guide the reader's attention to what's actually important, and optionally include a link to the original raw image afterwards. This creates a far more compelling narrative for our audience (hiring managers and recruiters), and ensures we're showing the right level of detail that is necessary to understand the story. Now to be clear, I'm not saying you should entirely avoid raw images or assets (or even raw Figma files). For example, these can be effective during the interview process because the designer can use their voice to guide their audience through the image. But when it's an online written case study submitted with an application, then you won't be in the room when a hiring manager first sees it. In that moment, your story will need to stand on it's own. It will need to communicate the right level of clarity and detail to compel the hiring manager to offer you an interview. In summary, when we want to "show instead of tell", that doesn't mean slapping a raw screenshot or image in our portfolio. It means reflecting on how we're using our words and images to give context, clarity, and tell an impactful story. Use it effectively to your advantage. What are your thoughts? #ux #design #portfolio #casestudy #storytelling

New Year, New Portfolio Tips This week, I spent a significant amount of time reviewing portfolios with talent—one of my favorite activities. Having examined hundreds over the past three years, I've gained a good understanding of what clients seek, irrespective of job title or industry. First and foremost, a hiring manager is unlikely to spend more than a minute or two reviewing your portfolio. If your work isn't easy to navigate and your top projects aren't immediately visible, you're doing yourself a disservice. The best portfolios feature key projects on the first page, allowing viewers to quickly grasp the person's contributions by reading a brief snippet at the top and viewing images, wireframes, or other relevant content below. In the UX/UI world, showcasing your entire process from end to end is crucial. Most importantly, remember that less is more. It's better to have 4-6 standout projects than 12 lacking detail. Hiring managers typically focus on the first few projects to understand your experience and design thinking, making decisions on the next steps from there. If you're seeking a new role in 2024, invest time in refining your portfolio with this thought in mind: If someone has one minute to review my portfolio, will they understand my work experience and design thinking process, enabling them to decide if I align with the job they are hiring for?

Product designers, let’s talk job application strategy. I’ve evaluated thousands of UX portfolios in the past decade, and let me tell you, the majority… Well, they didn’t make the cut. The sad thing is that I’m sure many of these candidates had the right skills and talents. They just didn’t showcase it well enough to earn an interview. And that’s mostly because they think job search is more about quantity than quality. I’m here to tell you to do better: Instead of creating a generic portfolio and sending it out to a hundred companies, focus on those one or two positions that really move you and create your portfolio accordingly. Do your research about that company, find out what skills are indispensable for the role, and highlight these at the top. Read up about their previous projects and clients, and present those case studies that fit their portfolio. You don’t have to spend a lot of time, but it can make a huge difference. There’s no better feeling for the recruiter when a candidate is the right fit for the job. So if you are, make sure you get the message across!

I found a trick to make portfolio creation 10x easier. Before you *design* your portfolio, *write* your portfolio. I know it’s tempting to jump straight into the design tool. But hang on for a moment…and consider these 3 steps: 1/ Create your outline - Open a text document - Type a list of each page you will include - Under each page, type each section - On your “projects” page, list each project Bam, at this point you have the full outline. It’s better to be here right now with text. If you arrive here first in the design tool you’ll stress too much over pixels. Now it’s easy to decide if this is the right direction before committing. 2/ Get inspired by other designers - Find 3 portfolios you admire - Scroll through their site - Write a list of the pages/sections they include - See if they do anything you love that inspires yours Congrats, now you enhanced your structure without moving a single design pixel. 3/ Add the meat - Type out the content you wish to include under each page/section - This may include your positioning statement, bio, project overviews, visuals to include, etc. Super, now you’ve just given yourself a blueprint for your entire portfolio. — The key is to write with words what you hope to see with your eyes. If you jump into the tool first, you’ll get overwhelmed with decisions. By writing your portfolio first you made 100+ decisions while the structure was more malleable. It’s easier to edit words than it is to edit polished pixels. Way to go, you are amazing.

Creating a portfolio is notoriously a pain. 😄 Designers already have so much on their plate and on top of that we have to track all of our work and regularly update our portfolios so that it represents our abilities accurately. The more your focused on having a real impact at work, the less focus you put on documenting and updating your work. Let’s be real designers are busy. We’re in meetings and we’re executing on IC work. So here are 3 tips to make it easy for you: 1. Document everything like a mad person. Have really good Project kickoff documents, design docs, comments, and even annotate in Figma on why you made certain decisions. This way when you “forget” to closely document your process for your portfolio, it’s already a part of your workflow that you can go back to with minimal effort. 2. Start with an outline that tells the story of your case study. Give us the background (high level), see my previous post on not oversharing. 😉 Tell us about the challenges that you faced and bring us to the climax, how did you overcome that challenge and ultimately close out the project. Think of a pixar movie plot. You can achieve breadth and depth. 3. Make it skimmable and easy to navigate. 🎯 This means show images, brainstorming in Figjam, user flows, sketches, high fidelity work, gifs, etc. This along with clear, descriptive headlines helps people scan your portfolio and get a quick understanding of whether or not they want to read deeper into it. If you need help creating your portfolio, The Craft has a resource written by me, I’ll link it below. Drop any questions for me in the comments.