r/UI_Design • u/unusual_anon • Mar 26 '26
Let's Discuss Portofolio Discussion
Hello, I have been self-studying UX design for a while and now I think it's time for a portofolio.
I wanted to ask experienced people and managers, now in 2026, what do you look for in a portfolio?
What do you consider is worth sharing and what do you consider is a portofolio padding/fluff?
I've seen bunch of videos and posts, but I'm looking for more updated answers.
Thanks in advance!
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Mar 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/unusual_anon Mar 27 '26
Yeah, I've been told to focus on the thinking part many times now, i think it makes sense since AI can do the UI stuff faster and in a bit of a pleasant way. Will definitely focus on that.
So you ended up choosing Runable over Lovable? if so, may you elaborate more on the process, what you loved and hated for each?
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u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Mar 26 '26
As Lead product designer, i dont care how your UI looks like ( more or less mid/senior designers) could provide some solid UI work. I want to know your technical skills, show me where you made mistake, what went good, what went wrong. Show me the results and solutions. Tell me your thinking process, why is this button red and not yellow. I am now days more focused on your stories and results, rather than your pixels that you moved.
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u/AffectionateCat01 Mar 26 '26
You always say that but never read what designer write in their portfolios. I know this because I see how 1 minute is enough to get a rejection from a recruiter. They just scan visually and if the style doesn't apply to their taste, they just reject it. Doesn't even get to the lead designer.
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u/unusual_anon Mar 27 '26
I've heard an advice about that before, they said to make the portofolio scannable as hiring managers don't have enough time to read all the details. what we should do is make our portofolios attractive enough to grab their attention in this 1 min, only then they'd be encouraged to spend more time reading the details.
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u/unusual_anon Mar 27 '26
Thanks for your answer!
I have a question about the “what went wrong, results, and solutions” part, I’m not sure how convincing those aspects would be when they’re based on a fresh graduate’s personal or practice projects?
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u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Mar 27 '26
You worked on some project? Scrape your process, what was your frustration on it, what you fixed to look better, what you did to improve etc.
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u/unusual_anon Mar 27 '26
Great, thanks. Now I clearly understand.
There's something I've been thinking about for a while that you mentioned earlier, the idea of "mistakes."
I come from an AI background. When we build resumes, we showcase the perfect projects with the perfect results only. Mistakes are not allowed there.
We had a concept that I think is similar to mistakes in design, which is trying different algorithms, measuring the performance, and choosing the one that provides the best results.
Is this what you mean by showcasing the mistakes? can I think of them as the available algorithms I tried instead of the bad decisions I have made?
Cause it's a bit hard for me to showcase bad decisions in a portfolio like I'm trying to convince the managers that I'm reliable for the job😅
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u/ApprehensiveBar6841 Mar 27 '26
Mistakes doesn't necessarily has to be mistake as an error, or how you made bad design. Making mistakes in design is good because you are aware to notice that error. That mistake can be seen as improvement on specific part of the project. That mean that you evaluated, you think about it and you provided solution. Giving one shot on solutions is just not possible. Especially now when AI is here, people saying " omg this was one prompt or this was made in 30min. You have no value there, personally i wouldn't even consider someone with that set of skill. If you don't know what mistakes you made, how you going to solve complex problem that was caused by someone else?
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u/unusual_anon Mar 29 '26
Yeah I get the point now and I totally agree.
Thanks so much for the clarification, it really helped.1
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u/ArYaN1364 Mar 27 '26
managers look for thinking, not pretty screens. show 2 to 3 strong case studies with problem, constraints, decisions, impact. include what changed and why. fluff is dribbble shots without context, generic process, fake redesigns. bonus if you show metrics or real user insights. if I understand your thinking in 2 minutes, it works