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Portfolio Reviews in the Time of Quarantine

Portfolio Tips

Quick Preface: We know designers might struggle to focus on their portfolio in the unprecedented circumstances we’re all facing. If this rings true, we hope you can grant yourself grace and time to begin this journey.

Designing a portfolio is tough! Plenty of designers can attest that creating a robust portfolio to win over recruiters and hiring managers is itself a full-time job. This experience is further compounded with many designers interviewing and participating in portfolio reviews remotely.

Jannis Hegenwald, a senior designer on Trello, Daniel Kaufman, a designer on support experiences, and Erika Nunotani, a junior designer on Atlassian Community, weigh in on some pressing questions from the design community. This blog aims to aid early-career designers in finding their first (or next) opportunity.

E: I’m most intrigued when candidates can accurately paint a picture of how their research led to their problem statement while also discussing the potential solutions they considered. The proposed solution should accomplish two things: directly solve the original issue and address why the proposed solution is the strongest while considering tradeoffs.

D: I look for four elements: Craft, passion, evidence of strong problem-solving, and storytelling.

J: I look for good fundamentals and communication. Does the candidate set the stage thoroughly and frame the problem in a relatable way?

In exploring craft, I look at the design craft and research details and how they approached the design process and handled constraints. I also like hearing the candidate reflect on their work. What did they learn, and if they were to do it again, what might they do differently?

E: Don’t undersell yourself. Your school projects can still be impressive portfolio pieces — it’s also never too late to update old projects. Go above and beyond, describing what metrics you would measure had the work shipped.

D: Some of the most interesting projects I have reviewed were school projects. One of the great things about seeing work from university is that it gives me insight into what you are personally passionate about pursuing. I also get to see a process that you largely decided upon. The most significant way to help your portfolio stand out is by emphasizing storytelling and process.

D: It depends on how well you documented the work before putting together a portfolio, but this process is typically a lengthy one, even if you only have a few projects. I would expect to spend a few weekends crafting great stories, articulating your process, and providing detailed case studies.

Starting this work is daunting, as it can feel challenging to frame your work for someone with limited context. If you find this to be the case for you, before you go deep into a project, try to make a bulleted list of the points you want to cover and the general flow of the project.

E: Echoing the above — this is a time commitment. Start with your strongest work and craft a compelling story that thoroughly explains the project and your role. As a junior, you can probably get away using your website for interviews, which will save some time. Practice your most fleshed-out project with family or friends to get an idea if you’re telling a sufficiently thorough story.

E: It’s never fun to be in this position. If you weren’t able to see results but want to showcase what you achieved, speak to how you moved the work forward and explored new working styles. Did you collaborate with a researcher, analyst, or data scientist? How did you participate in design critiques and iterate on your designs? How did you share your designs with engineers to determine if they were technically feasible?

J: These situations can be tough, but there’s a way to use them to your advantage in a portfolio review. What would you have done if you had had more time? And what did you learn? What would you do differently if you had the chance to start over, and what will you take to your next project? Be sure to be specific when speaking to hypothetical scenarios.

E: It would help if you balanced, showing a little a bit of breadth and depth. Recruiters are more likely to conduct a high-level “first pass” while hiring managers may dive deeper into the project. You’ll want to make it easy for both audiences to navigate your work, by distilling key points and providing additional detail for those who are curious.

D: Somewhere in your portfolio, you should clarify your desired next role to ensure hiring managers and recruiters are aligned. Ensure your most relevant work is at the top of your portfolio, as recruiters or hiring managers may only review one or two projects in the initial stages.

E: Your personal brand is always on display as a designer. Determine your strengths and showcase them. It takes a lot to be self-aware enough to know your strengths, so it’s impressive to be able to integrate them into your brand. If you’re not sure, ask your network what they think your biggest strengths are.

D: I love portfolios with a personality — they immediately set candidates apart. I’ve reviewed portfolios from deeply experienced designers, and a pitfall even they fall into is failing to give a sense of the person behind the work. It can be as simple as including projects in your portfolio that highlight who you are — even if not directly relevant to the role. Maybe you are an excellent painter, or you restore cars or run ultramarathons; including these elements helps reviewers see the whole person.

Also, while portfolios can be very formal, don’t be afraid to let your voice come through your writing. Tone can give a strong sense of how you think through problems and organize your thoughts.

J: While I agree with the above, I’d advise candidates to be careful not to go overboard with personal branding. Unless you’re applying for a brand position, a strong personal brand or visual identity can overshadow your actual case studies.

E: Explain, but don’t blame the situation. Speak to what was missing from your design process. If you have any team projects from school, explain each person’s role. If there were any stakeholders (e.g., professors or TAs), explain how you considered their feedback.

It’s never too late to revise your projects. Talk about what happened and include an appended section to discuss what you would’ve done differently upon reflection and the outcomes you’d hope to achieve.

D: So much of life includes collaboration. Even if you have never explicitly collaborated with PMs or devs, there are still probably a few examples outside of that capacity that you can show. Maybe it is working with another classmate, and perhaps it’s collaborating with someone who has different skills than that of yourself.

J: If there are specific skills or methods you haven’t done in a professional environment, try to find examples where you’ve done similar things in a less formal or less structured way. For example, you may not have done a proper contextual inquiry with a client, but you may have observed how people shop at a grocery store for a school project. And while you may not have experience collaborating with engineers on design specs, you probably worked with fellow students for school projects.

E: It’s relatively similar to an in-person portfolio review. Set yourself up to be present and engaged, and make sure you have access to your speaker notes if needed. And importantly — don’t be afraid to ask for a break when you need one!

D: First, set yourself up for success. Find a quiet space with a neutral backdrop and decent lighting and a stable wifi connection. Second, in theatre, they say you have to perform for the furthest row in the room, which is pretty applicable to interviewing over screens. I call it “Zoom Theater.” Like any good presentation (in person or remote), you need to practice nailing the delivery. Part of this may mean dialing it up another 10–20% to help stand out and give the audience a strong sense of your passion and personality.

J: When you’re presenting your portfolio remotely, it is much more difficult to gauge your interviewers’ reactions to what you’re saying. To make sure that people feel like they can ask questions and leave enough time for discussion, I’d encourage you to share the timeline upfront and include more pauses than you would in a collocated setting.

If it’s not possible to set yourself up in a quiet environment, set the expectations with your interviewers that you might get distracted during the review. Many people don’t have the luxury of a dedicated, calm office space — your interviewers will understand.

D: This is a dilemma I know causes stress for designers. First and foremost, make sure that the link is password protected on your website. Secondly, inform your interviewers that the work is sensitive, and request they not share it. If the project is truly confidential and cannot be shared, even with redactions, try to speak at a high level about the work and design processes. If this is for a well-known company, you may also have to edit the images you post to remove any identifying material from the UI. NDA’s are a common dilemma within design and teams will likely exercise common sense when looking at confidential work.

D: I talk a lot about openness in this post, and in that same vein, I would recommend reading (or finding a good summary) of Radical Candor by Kim Scott. I believe that people gravitate to openness. It helps establish trust and rapport faster than anything else. Portfolio reviews are an experience that can make even seasoned pros feel vulnerable. Going through your work with honesty and self-awareness of the challenges you faced and the learnings you had along the way, should help establish a good relationship with interviewers even if it is only for an hour.

E: Before my first professional interview, I read Solving Product Design Exercises: Questions & Answers, which helped me identify and simplify what hiring managers were looking for in candidates. It explained a quick and smart framework that would be easy to remember in a stressful environment. Otherwise, listen to your regularly scheduled playlist to relax before a review.

As a note, our recruiting team recommends Lead with a Story (or similar books on this topic) to help build your storytelling and communication skills ahead of the presentation.

D: Openness and honesty are critical during an interview. Ideally, interviews are a two-way street. The company is interviewing you, and you are interviewing them to make sure the dynamic is a good fit for both parties. In that spirit, if there is any part of the interview you felt you could have done better, let them know what you would have changed. The trait of honest self-awareness is often undervalued, and your interviewers will appreciate it.

E: Take a moment to reflect on how you presented your portfolio. What parts were well-received? Replicate that structure. Was the panel confused by anything you said? Next time, proactively address potential questions. I always try to ask for feedback after the interview so that, no matter the outcome, I can continue to learn and perform even better the next time.

J: Danny and Erika make excellent points. The only thing I’d add is that, regardless of how you feel you did during the portfolio review, following up with people is a good idea in general. Whether sharing an idea or related topic that came from reflecting on the conversation, or simply saying thank you, you’re likely to build rapport with the team in reaching out.

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