Designer portfolio: how to build case studies that get you interviews

Step 1

List all your projects

Start with a list, not a page design. Write down everything you've done: study projects, course work, design games and challenges, volunteer tasks, redesigns for friends. Next to each, note which decisions were yours and whether the in-between materials survived: sketches, notes from talking to people, early options. You can't write a case study without them.

💡 From now on, keep the sketches and drafts of every project in a separate folder. In six months, that's where your next case study will come from.

Step 2

Pick 2–3 projects for case studies

Two or three detailed case studies are enough for a first portfolio; with more experience, Nielsen Norman Group suggests three to five. Choose by three criteria:

• •the project has a clear problem of specific people, not just “make it pretty”;
• •you made the decisions rather than reproducing someone else's layout;
• •the projects differ: for example, a mobile app, a web service and a deadline task from a design game.

Step 3

Build the case study as the story of a decision

Keep the same structure in every case study so readers can find their way. Open with a two- or three-sentence summary, then the problem, your role and constraints, the key moments of the process, the solution with a “why this way”, the result and what you learned. Write headings as conclusions: not “Research” but “People looked for the delivery price before the cart”. More on structure and wording in the guide Design portfolio: how to write a case study.

💡 No result numbers? Don't invent them. “Four of five test participants managed without hints” is more honest and more convincing than doubtful percentages.

Step 4

Choose where to show it

Each format has its strengths. Behance suits detailed case studies with a long feed of images and text. Dribbble is for short visual shots; there's too little room for a case study, so use it as a showcase. Your own site on a builder such as Framer or Webflow gives you the most control over presentation. A PDF works for sending to recruiters. Whatever you choose, check that:

• •the portfolio opens on a phone within a few seconds;
• •the first screen shows your name, specialisation and contact;
• •prototype links work without an access request;
• •your strongest case study comes first.

Step 5

Get feedback and tailor it to the role

Before sending it out, show your portfolio to a fellow designer, someone outside design and, if possible, someone with hiring experience. Ask them to retell your first case study in two minutes: if the retelling doesn't match what you meant, rewrite the case study. Reorder case studies for each role: for a mobile app team, put the mobile project first.

💡 Common mistakes that show at once: dozens of phone mockups without explanation, an unclear role in a team project, redraws without a label, confidential data without permission.