Creating Impactful Jr UX Case Study Presentations
Completing my new portfolio (..and case studies) was the first step in a huge mountain of securing a new job.
Many Jr UX designers who I’ve spoken to are so overwhelmed by the portfolio process that they neglect the case study presentation that will inevitably become a part of any interview process.
Even as a former technical recruiter, the expectation in UX interviewing has long since been that UX designers will have a supplemental presentation detailing their case studies.
Without a case study, you cant have a presentation
There's a common misconception that only shipped work is valuable and portfolio-worthy.
I don’t think that’s true for every case.
While shipping a project is the ultimate goal, it's a collaborative effort involving an entire team and business, not solely your responsibility. I've pursued numerous UX research avenues and created UI screens that didn't make it to the final product. This doesn't diminish the value of the work.
With all that said, creating a presentation starts with having a portfolio case study to present.
So how did I start?
I recently attended a virtual UX meetup where Dr. Ari Zelmanow offered a framework called POSTER to help build case study presentations.
POSTER stands for Problem, Outcome, Solution, Tactics, Evidence and Risks. Dr Ari, who has years of experience with many influential companies, had 100s of slides he could grab from for potentially every question that would be tossed his way.
This begged the question from the audience how you achieve this framework when you don't have 10 years of projects to detail? Building a case study presentation, just like anything else, is an iterative process. The point is that this framework gives you a starting point and gives you hard boundaries to keep you on topic and your presentation(s) focused.
Please go give Dr Ari a follow and connect with him if you are interested in POSTER.
Choose a Presentation platform
There are pros and cons to the plethora of presentation platforms out there.
I am relatively comfortable with slides, powerpoint and Canva. I’d heard of many people using Figma, so I started creating frames in Figma for my case study presentation about a month before Figma slides (lovingly referred to below as “Flides”) were launched.
There is no debate that there are inherent fumbles with Flides, I think there is room for improvement. All that to say, I suggest using the platform you’re most comfortable with.
Get your shit on the presentation page
Remember all of that stuff I told you not to put on your portfolio case study like your UX artifacts? Yeah, well it's time to whip that stuff out. If you are using the POSTER methodology like I did, your artifacts are the “Evidence” part of your slides.
It’s not to say you dump all your “evidence” into the slides, but be selective But make sure you stay focused on the framework and that your artifacts and visuals can tell the story with very few words.
The golden rule of presentations is keep the copy short, use presentation mode and bullet point the main concepts that are crucial to touch on verbally.
Great, I have a presentation now, do I have to do this for every interview?
I recently came across a post on LinkedIn that was telling people to stop using the same portfolio presentations for every interview. The point the poster was trying to make is that you should make small changes in your slides and highlight the most relevant points for that job you are interviewing for.
While I agree with the main point. You will be up against constraints from the beginning. The first is determining what is most important to the hiring manager in hiring for that role. The job description, the recruiter and the hiring manager can all have conflicting ideas about what is important to highlight in an interview.
I recently interviewed for a role and I was halfway through the 4 round interview process before I knew the job was working for a division of the company that heavily leans on mobile design.
I faced a challenging decision with my latest portfolio presentation. My most recent case study wasn't for a mobile product, which presented two options:
- Create a presentation based on an older, less polished mobile project.
- Use my well-prepared, non-mobile project and adapt it to address universal business challenges.
Ultimately, I chose to showcase my strongest work, focusing on how my solutions apply to broad business problems, regardless of the platform. The non-mobile presentation was more concise and organized, making it easier for readers to understand my dilemma and decision-making process, using the POSTER methodology.
Catering your presentation doesn’t mean starting over
Most of the time, subtle and nuanced changes to your presentation will go a long way. Portfolio presentations are most often reserved for a team or panel interview. Understand what is important to the team who is interviewing you?
What does that mean? Two things
- Ask questions before the panel interview
- Pay attention to the questions you are asked in earlier interviews
During your pre-screen (if there is one), pay attention to those questions, it may help you with your presentation structure. Additionally, what parts of the job description did the recruiter highlight during the recruiter screen?
In one of my recent interviews, it became clear early on that the company’s Core Values were incredibly important to them. I silently infused the UI and acronym for their core values into the corner of my opening slide. Then, I placed the corresponding core value(s) on each subsequent slide.
Starting is the hardest part
I know it's daunting to think about how you can present enough information in an interview that will cover everything you may need to. I promise if you assemble your portfolio presentation early on, you will thank yourself later. It's so much easier to collect your thoughts and organize them while your case studies are fresh in your mind. So now that you have some tips to help you, get going already!!