Vol. 015 - 16 bite-sized tips for levelling up your portfolio

Hi designers,

Welcome to Vol. 015 of the UX Jetpack Newsletter, where I share job searching tips weekly. This week we are talking about:

1. 16 bite-sized tips for levelling up your portfolio
2. The BEST approach for nailing whiteboard challenge in design interviews
3. Are you curious about how much you can make in UX for 2023? 💰✨
4. The best redesign project I’ve seen

If you enjoy those tips, please consider sharing them with your friends. They can sign up at https://uxjetpack.com/newsletter

16 bite-sized tips for levelling up your portfolio

Last week, I spent 3 hours at Adobe’s Creative Cafe event giving feedback on designers' portfolios. Here are 16 tips I shared.

On the home page:

1. Place your resume on the navigation
2. Use clear and appealing visuals as thumbnails
3. Include an About page to showcase your personality
4. Place your email at the top of the page and make it copyable
5. Highlight the impact in the project description to capture people's attention
6. Put less than 4 of your best projects and place non-relevant projects on another page

In the case study:

1. Avoid explaining the basic concept of the design process
2. Use bullet points, diagrams, and images for easy skimming
3. Once again, emphasize the impact in the headline of the project
4. Ensure your visuals are large and legible so people can read the content
5. Present your final design as a large banner at the top of your case study
6. Clearly indicate whether the project is a school project or a real-life project
7. Use headlines to convey the main point of each section instead of short titles
8. Always show before and after comparisons and explain how the changes solved user problems
9. Focus on the insights gained at each stage and how you translated insights into design decisions
10. Never mention learning in the reflection section without illustrating how you learned it during the process

The BEST approach for nailing whiteboard challenge in design interviews

It's scary to do a whiteboard challenge during interviews.

You might not know what to say or how to perform the best.

I was the same until I learned this approach that made everything easier.

The key is to have a conversation with the interviewer.

They don't expect you to come up with the best solution in a short time.

They will challenge your solution and see how you respond.

Leave your ego behind. Don't defend your decision.

Tell them how you would incorporate their feedback in your design, and ask them what they would think if you changed your design based on their feedback.

They want to see if you are a designer who can take feedback and improve a design.

They want someone who can collaborate.
Not someone defensive.

Are you curious about how much you can make in UX for 2023? 💰✨

Here are some helpful websites to give you an idea of the market salary range for your UX job level.

1. Builtin builtin.com/salaries
2. Levels.fyi
3. DesignX Salary Database designx.community/salary
4. Salary https://www.salary.com/research/salary/listing/ux-designer-salary
5. H1B Salary Database https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=&job=product+designer&city=&year=2023
6. Lyssna https://www.lyssna.com/blog/ux-designer-salary/
7. UXPa https://uxpa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/05/UXPA_SalarySurvey_2022.pdf

Remember, don't just settle for the baseline. Always negotiate your salary.

The best redesign project I’ve seen

This is the best redesign project I’ve seen in a while. Juxtopposed on YouTube redesigned the entire Steam UI, and it makes me wish this is what Steam looks like.

Check out the full video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDY2p1CTkPo

and play around with the design in Figma as well. https://www.figma.com/community/file/1302616100790619521/steam-redesign