The ultimate product design portfolio checklist

Use this list to double check your work before sending it to your dream job.

Get your portfolio ready for take off with this checklist.

Before pilots initiate take off they have a routine checklist they go through to make sure the aircraft is in good shape. Engines, landing gear, fuel. Sometimes this leads to part replacements and generally extra time on the ground. But that’s also why flying is safe—checklists save lives and so they’re routinely used on commercial flights.

Designing a portfolio is a deeply personal activity. Because we usually find ourselves poring over the writing and sweating the details we sometimes inadvertently miss things.

This list is here to help.

Think of it as heuristics for your portfolio—rules of thumb based on what hiring managers expect. Also remember that heuristics only go so far—usability test your portfolio before submitting it (more on that below).

General things to keep in mind

Remember, your number one goal with the portfolio is to get the first interview. How might you drum up interest and get the hiring manager excited by the prospect of working with you?

General things to keep in mind throughout:

Storytelling. Have you crafted a compelling narrative to describe your work, your career and why you’re a good fit for this role?

Have you crafted a compelling narrative to describe your work, your career and why you’re a good fit for this role? Easy to scan. Is your portfolio easy to understand at a quick glance?

Is your portfolio easy to understand at a quick glance? Brand. What type of design do you specialize in? What are your strengths? What’s unique about you? Can you communicate your value clearly?

Watch out for these:

Typos . Read your portfolio out loud, purposefully slowing yourself down will help you hear the content (as opposed to just seeing it) and spot any mistakes you may have otherwise missed.

. Read your portfolio out loud, purposefully slowing yourself down will help you hear the content (as opposed to just seeing it) and spot any mistakes you may have otherwise missed. Typographical sins. Check for things like quotation marks, dashes, etc.

Check for things like quotation marks, dashes, etc. Acronyms . Remove, rephrase or define. You don’t want to alienate your audience with industry or company jargon.

. Remove, rephrase or define. You don’t want to alienate your audience with industry or company jargon. Links. Check for broken URLs.

Check for broken URLs. Your portfolio URL. Make sure it goes to the right place.

Some of these are easy to miss and can be hard to spot. Outside of reading out loud—consider printing your work and posting it on the wall. Stepping back and looking at it from a distance will help you evaluate hierarchy. What things call to your attention? Are these the right things?

What’s your journey up to now? Why is this role the best outcome for both of us? Photo by Patrick Fore

About you

Your story begins with you first, work second. What type of designer are you? What are you passionate about? Your case studies reinforce your identity. For example if you said you’re good at prototyping — highlight those skills in action by showing the work.

Your Name.

Date of your portfolio. (e.g. selected work from 2020)

(e.g. selected work from 2020) Your story. A short description of who you are, your strengths, and any relevant and transferable skills for the role you’re applying.

Make it easy for your potential future hiring manager to contact you,

Phone number . Check for typos.

. Check for typos. Location. Where would you like to be located?

Where would you like to be located? E-mail . The one you regularly check.

. The one you regularly check. Professional social media (e.g. LinkedIn, Behance, Dribbble, etc.)

Projects—your curated work

Your projects are competing in a place for your portfolio. Have many projects on hand. Include the ones that are most relevant to the company and the role you’re applying for. Use this criteria to determine which ones make the cut.

Relevant to the role. Are these projects relevant to the role that you’re applying for?

Are these projects relevant to the role that you’re applying for? First impression. When scanning through your portfolio in 30 seconds, what impression do you get? Is this the right impression?

When scanning through your portfolio in 30 seconds, what impression do you get? Is this the right impression? Skill level. Does the list of projects represent your current skills well?

Does the list of projects represent your current skills well? Complexity. How challenging was this project? Complex projects speak to your seniority and capacity to take on larger scope of work with ambiguous requirements.

How challenging was this project? Complex projects speak to your seniority and capacity to take on larger scope of work with ambiguous requirements. Has this project shipped? Generally shipped projects tend to be weighed more over those that were never built (e.g. student work).

Generally shipped projects tend to be weighed more over those that were never built (e.g. student work). Recency. If the work is over 5 years old consider replacing it with a more recent project.

If the work is over 5 years old consider replacing it with a more recent project. Project blend. Do you have a good mix of projects that show your breadth of skills (e.g. interaction design, visual design, user research) and depth (e.g. complex prototypes).

Project

Next you’ll want to set up each project individually in a case study format.

Context

Setting up a proper context for a project makes it easy for the hiring manager to understand the constraints you were up against and how you were able to navigate them.

Summary. Succinctly describe the project.

Succinctly describe the project. Problem statement. Should be short and clear. What was the user issue? What was the business problem?

Should be short and clear. What was the user issue? What was the business problem? Team. How big was the team for this? Were you the only designer? Who else did you work with to make this project happen?

How big was the team for this? Were you the only designer? Who else did you work with to make this project happen? Role. What was your involvement on this project (e.g. visual design)

What was your involvement on this project (e.g. visual design) Platform. List the ones you’ve designed for in the context of this project, e.g. mobile app, responsive site, etc.

List the ones you’ve designed for in the context of this project, e.g. mobile app, responsive site, etc. Timeline. Duration of the project (e.g. 3 weeks)

Duration of the project (e.g. 3 weeks) Constraints. Noteworthy limitations that you overcame.

Process

Show that you have a rich toolkit of methods that you tailor to the situation at hand. Highlight insights from your process (based on research, group activities, your own observation, etc.) that led to novel design solutions.

Couple of things to check for:

Is there a clear link between process and end result?

Did you include photos of work-in process artifacts and specify how they helped you clarify your thinking?

Does this artifact support your story? If you remove it, is the story made better or worse?

Is there a right balance of process and deliverables?

Is this project’s process similar the last one? If so, consider swapping out this project for another or highlighting different aspects of your process.

The difference between an amateur and a professional is the size of their wastebasket

Outputs

What were your deliverables for this project?

Mockups. Did you scrub confidential data? Check for typos in your mocks.

Did you scrub confidential data? Check for typos in your mocks. Prototypes. If you’re linking to prototypes make sure the links are still working (I sometimes find web links that lead to “over quota” error pages).

If you’re linking to prototypes make sure the links are still working (I sometimes find web links that lead to “over quota” error pages). Media. How does your work look like on a retina display?

How does your work look like on a retina display? Cutting room floor ideas. What concepts didn’t make it? Nobody knocks it out of the park the first time. As the saying goes, the difference between an amateur and a professional is the size of their wastebasket.

Outcomes

How did your solution ultimately solve the problem? How did it make a positive impact? Were there any interesting and surprising positive outcomes?

Quantitative evidence. Did the metrics move? Why or why not? What was the next step? Did you measure the right thing?

Did the metrics move? Why or why not? What was the next step? Did you measure the right thing? Qualitative evidence. Are there any interesting quotes or testimonials that you can provide? These could be written quotes, video or audio recordings. Be sure to have permission and consent to share.

Not all projects succeed and some see spectacular failure or environmental effects may take a project out (e.g. company going under). Consider including “lessons learned” but it’s also ok to save space and include these in your on-site portfolio instead.

Playing hiring manager

Lastly and most importantly—test your portfolio. You only get one shot when it comes to submitting it, so make it your best one.

Is there a dream job you have in mind? Print out the job description, hand it to your friend and let them play the role of the hiring manager. As they go through your work ask them to speak out loud. Seeing their gut reaction to your portfolio in-person is powerful as they’re voicing what they see.

If you have industry contacts, reach out to senior designers or managers and get their feedback. Managers especially look at portfolios regularly, so they would be a great resource.

What do you check for?

That’s it! Hope you find this checklist useful. Are there any other things you check for when you’re building your portfolio?