Week 3: turn two portfolio projects into interview stories

A portfolio gets you the interview. In the room, the stories behind it carry you. Two projects you know thoroughly beat six you can only skim.

Pick two, and choose differently

Choose projects that show different strengths: perhaps one research-led and one that shipped under constraints. Be ready to cover each in five minutes or in thirty.

For each project, write down

• The situation. Who it was for, what was at stake, your role and the team.
• The decisions. Three or four moments where you chose one path over another, with the alternatives you rejected.
• The trade-offs. What you gave up and why it was the right call at the time.
• The result. What changed, with a number if you have one, and what you would do differently now.

The last point matters. Saying what you would change shows that you learn.

Explain, do not narrate

Do not walk through screens in order. Start with the problem, give the headline of what you did, then offer to go deeper where they are curious. Say "I" for your work and "we" for the team's.

Practise redesign challenges

Pick a familiar product with an annoying flow. In thirty minutes: state the problem, sketch a better version, and list what you would test. Doing this four or five times makes a blank page feel ordinary.

Prepare for critique

Have a friend or peer pick holes in your work. Practise receiving it: listen, ask what they would try, separate the point from the tone. Interviewers watch how you respond as much as what you say.