This is a short guide on how I quickly screen product design portfolios to determine whether a candidate should enter the interview process at a company with high craft standards. This guide is for both design recruiters who might be developing their eye for design so that they can screen portfolios more efficiently and for design candidates who are trying to figure out how they should think about structuring their portfolios.

If you want a team with exceptional talent, screening should be rigorous and selective. This stage filters out unqualified candidates so your panel avoids wasted interviews. So let’s define what rigor and selectivity mean, and how to make clear, decisive calls on candidate quality.

3 tiers of evaluation

There are 3 tiers of evaluation I’ve relied on when looking at product design portfolio. This recipe is quick and can be realistically done in ~5 minutes. Below is the order of evaluation. Note that I will move on to the next tier only if the previous one passes:

1. Visual design
   Does the portfolio pass the eye test in the first couple of seconds of opening the portfolio? Visual design can be quick to evaluate and, unfortunately, most candidates don’t meet the standard which means that this is where the vast majority of portfolios get screened out. I believe that designing a good user experience can’t be done without good visual design (think themes of alignment, color, typography, proportion, space, etc). Visual design sets the first impression for the user and you only have one opportunity to create a good first impression.
   
   A note to candidates: Yes, product design is about so many other things besides visuals. It’s important to understand the user needs, the problems to be solved, success metrics, research methodologies, etc. But, whether you identify as a visual designer or not, the aesthetics are important. Especially in your portfolio (the hook).
   
   

2. Written communication
   Here’s where you evaluate the actual process beyond visual design. The way a candidate tells the story of your project is a direct reflection of their thought process and how they think about design. Is their project optimized for scanning? Can I quickly understand the user problem, the motivation behind the project, the business problem/goal they were trying to achieve, and the solution they came up with? More simply put: do I get it?

   
   A note to candidates: Optimize for a layout that is easy to scan. Use headers and sections that are simple and easy to read as opposed to long paragraphs filled with minute details. Structure case studies around a scalable outline. ie Problem, process, solution. Assume hiring managers and recruiters won’t read each project in it’s entirety. How can you communicate your most important points as quickly as possible?
   
   

3. Relevance
   By this stage, only a small percentage of candidates are left. In some scenarios, I see “relevance” as a want not a need. How relevant is their past work compared to the things we’re doing at this company? If we’re working on a B2B SaaS product, does the candidate display B2B projects? If we are predominately working on a mobile experience does the candidate show mobile designs? If I see really strong visual design and written communication but the relevance isn’t totally aligned, I’m sometimes willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and push them on to early interviews. But if a portfolio checks all 3 tiers then I’m aggressive about recruiting this candidate since they are rare.

   
   A note to candidates: Think about what companies or products you want to work on and make sure at least some of your projects display relevant themes. If you don’t know then try to include variety (desktop, mobile, B2B, B2C, etc).

In my next article I’ll dive deeper into how I quickly evaluate visual design in a portfolio. The deep dive will be focused on objective design principles that I look at to confidently assess a candidate’s craft. Remember, a product design portfolio is really just a hook. The goal of a portfolio is to communicate that you understand design in 5 minutes or less to a design manager or a recruiter so that they can quickly make a decision to either talk to you or pass on you.

A strong portfolio won’t get you hired, but a weak one will get you rejected.