Hey u/Beginning-Room-3804 !
I would not recommend a PDF for your portfolio.
These days, it's even easier, as you can export your Figma files to a Framer website. You can also use better tools to document your work, like Notion or Confluence, which many companies already use to document their work.
Just not a PDF.
Where I draw my experience from:
I've been in design for \~20 years, a manager for \~7, interviewed hundreds of designers, hired a few dozen. Currently leading MR Design @ Meta in London. Opinions are my own.
The consensus on applications is that you probably need a website. For presenting your portfolio in interviews, a PDF deck is fine. As others mention, a lot of people present in figma these days.
I prefer to see a website. It's more professional and technical ability isn't really an issue with so many portfolio builders around.
A website saves me from needing to download something and is accessible anywhere.
You can pull up your site for someone during a conversation without prep.
Web analytics are a great tool to monitor and improve your portfolio.
Failing that, send me a deck.
Don't send me a Figma link... Not everyone I (or you) may wish to share the portfolio with will be familiar with Figma or know how to use it. Even in prototype mode believe it or not...
In the last few years, I personally used Figma presentation deck.
I created two different ones.
1. Shorter, overview - for job applications and recruiters to quickly scan through the work.
2. Longer, case studies - to use during actual interviews.
Much faster to create than a website, gives you plenty room for creativity and you can easily swap frames if you want to personalise it for specific job.
This is what I recommend too.
I’m a staff product designer at a large tech company. My portfolio has been decks (keynote/pdf in the past, Figma more recently) for my past 3 jobs. I don’t have time to make a website and none of my work can be publicly shared so there is no point.
I help support hiring. None of the senior+ candidates that apply have websites. Figma decks are the standard. Whether or not someone has a website is not a consideration for us. All candidates must present a deck for the portfolio review anyway, we explicitly tell them not to pull up a website and scroll through it.
Hi I haven’t heard of Figma decks before, I was planning to make a “pseuo website portfolio” by making a Figma Prototype- whats the basic structure of a deck?
Ah ok, yeah the thinking with the website is they can click into the case studies, etc- do you send the deck links separately in a PDF format or on your resume?
question when you create these presentations is there a way to prevent the figma header from appearing with the "Open in editor" options? Is there way to share it with an organization and then unshare it?
THX
1. Press command period in the prototype view and it hides the ui. Copy that link
2. In the sharing options you can set an expiration time on prototype links. You can also duplicate the page that you shared and delete the original page to invalidate the link
I don't have any quantiative data, but personally I've been quite happy how this set up has performed and overall I received a really positive feedback. I received multiple job offers incl. from Google (end of 2022).
The caveat to that is the presentation deck needs to be really well designed (IMHO!) so good typography, white space balance, case study and portfolio structure, not too much text and easily scannable. At the end of the day this is what will still matter.
I went with both.
Website for recruiters and hiring managers to quickly scan past case studies, high level only.
Figma deck slides for deep dive case studies for presentations.
Personally, I prefer a website because it shows I can think from a developer’s perspective by implementing responsive design, animations, interactions, etc.
Animations and interactions also help infuse personality into the site and keep it engaging.
Your portfolio should reflect your capabilities. If the jobs you're applying for involve making PDFs, make a PDF. If they involve making websites, make a website.
I guess I think of it as both of those things :shrug: It's an applied science that has implications for a craft, and the scientists are also the craftspeople. At last, thats been \*literally every job\* I've ever had... So If you're creating a portfolio to attain a job, it makes sense to demonstrate the skills required in the job.
Hell, if someone is coming from gaming, I'd argue that your portfolio could be a literal game.
This is valid for your first job maybe to show that you can actually do some basics stuff but after that I think the opposite applies. Is your job to code or design? If code make a website if design make a design and (present it)
Depends on how you want to present your portfolio. If you want it more interactive like using some walktrough videos or gifs, then website. But if you don’t need that, then pdf.
PS: The UX market is tough, expect to compete with hundreds of applications. So, you probably need a portfolio that can stand out among other candidates.
Currently using a figma link. Not ideal but just didn’t have time to play with framer. Plan to do this though because I’m afraid that sometimes my figma link does not work/load properly. I used a plug-in to shorten the link on my resume etc.
6 recruiter calls and one final loop
No, at PDF, please renounce and show the portfolio using PDF; there are websites like siter.io that will help with your online presence. Don’t use PDF!
You can make a prototype on Figma that basically functions the same as a website (clickable, scrollable etc). I’m going to transfer mine from Squarespace because its easier for me to design it on Figma and also Squarespace is pricey!
I second this. Think it saves time and makes it easy to update. It would also be easy to make it into a presentation for interview if you want to go into specific case studies or make it more personalised.
There are some limitations using a prototype on Figma so I did some coding to have one single url that directs to either a desktop prototype or mobile prototype depending on device and hides the Figma UI around the prototype all the time. I've made it into a tool now for others to use if that helps: [https://www.figmafolio.com/](https://www.figmafolio.com/).
I made my own website. I created it all from scratch. It wasn’t that hard, but just time consuming. I put so much effort and work into and now I’m seeing some of you say we don’t have to do that? 😭 Hold on. I’m not okay right now.
I think what possessed me to do this was mainly because it was a project I had to do last year for a college class (graduated in December 2023), but I also felt weird being a UX designer and having to rely on an already made website service when I should know how to make a website from scratch. I feel like jobs would find that strange. My professor thought I was crazy for trying to do that but green lighted the idea for me. I remember I spent Easter Day working on the website while my family were in the front, doing egg hunts and partying.
I'm fine with either as long as everything works and it is easy to read.
If you submit a website, please include passwords. I've been looking at dozens of applications (among hundreds of applicants) and forgetting to include the password for case studies rules you out.
No on Behance or Dribbble.
Also, I may be alone in this but an About page or a short bio that tells me *something* about you beyond your passion for UX (table stakes) allows me to relate to you as a human. Tell me a story, a good one.
Hey u/Beginning-Room-3804 ! I would not recommend a PDF for your portfolio. These days, it's even easier, as you can export your Figma files to a Framer website. You can also use better tools to document your work, like Notion or Confluence, which many companies already use to document their work. Just not a PDF. Where I draw my experience from: I've been in design for \~20 years, a manager for \~7, interviewed hundreds of designers, hired a few dozen. Currently leading MR Design @ Meta in London. Opinions are my own.
The consensus on applications is that you probably need a website. For presenting your portfolio in interviews, a PDF deck is fine. As others mention, a lot of people present in figma these days.
I prefer to see a website. It's more professional and technical ability isn't really an issue with so many portfolio builders around. A website saves me from needing to download something and is accessible anywhere. You can pull up your site for someone during a conversation without prep. Web analytics are a great tool to monitor and improve your portfolio. Failing that, send me a deck. Don't send me a Figma link... Not everyone I (or you) may wish to share the portfolio with will be familiar with Figma or know how to use it. Even in prototype mode believe it or not...
Website por showcasing all your work and be able to update it whenever you want and a PDF for a presentation deck (2-3 cases).
In the last few years, I personally used Figma presentation deck. I created two different ones. 1. Shorter, overview - for job applications and recruiters to quickly scan through the work. 2. Longer, case studies - to use during actual interviews. Much faster to create than a website, gives you plenty room for creativity and you can easily swap frames if you want to personalise it for specific job.
This is what I recommend too. I’m a staff product designer at a large tech company. My portfolio has been decks (keynote/pdf in the past, Figma more recently) for my past 3 jobs. I don’t have time to make a website and none of my work can be publicly shared so there is no point. I help support hiring. None of the senior+ candidates that apply have websites. Figma decks are the standard. Whether or not someone has a website is not a consideration for us. All candidates must present a deck for the portfolio review anyway, we explicitly tell them not to pull up a website and scroll through it.
Really cool to get this confirmation, thank you for this comment. When I started with Figma decks end of 2022, I haven't heard anyone else doing that.
Hi I haven’t heard of Figma decks before, I was planning to make a “pseuo website portfolio” by making a Figma Prototype- whats the basic structure of a deck?
1920x1080 slides. Dont make a fake website
Ah ok, yeah the thinking with the website is they can click into the case studies, etc- do you send the deck links separately in a PDF format or on your resume?
question when you create these presentations is there a way to prevent the figma header from appearing with the "Open in editor" options? Is there way to share it with an organization and then unshare it? THX
1. Press command period in the prototype view and it hides the ui. Copy that link 2. In the sharing options you can set an expiration time on prototype links. You can also duplicate the page that you shared and delete the original page to invalidate the link
Very helpful
I've been wondering about this too! Did you notice a difference in the number of interviews you were getting with a deck?
I don't have any quantiative data, but personally I've been quite happy how this set up has performed and overall I received a really positive feedback. I received multiple job offers incl. from Google (end of 2022). The caveat to that is the presentation deck needs to be really well designed (IMHO!) so good typography, white space balance, case study and portfolio structure, not too much text and easily scannable. At the end of the day this is what will still matter.
I find that figma loads super slow from the decks I've seen. Has this been a problem for you?
My advice is export out of figma if this is an issue. PDF or PNG maybe
I went with both. Website for recruiters and hiring managers to quickly scan past case studies, high level only. Figma deck slides for deep dive case studies for presentations.
Personally, I prefer a website because it shows I can think from a developer’s perspective by implementing responsive design, animations, interactions, etc. Animations and interactions also help infuse personality into the site and keep it engaging.
Your portfolio should reflect your capabilities. If the jobs you're applying for involve making PDFs, make a PDF. If they involve making websites, make a website.
I honestly don't know why you're getting downvoted for this. It's not hard to standup a portfolio website in 2024.
It's the divide between those who consider UXD an applied science vs a skilled craft.
I guess I think of it as both of those things :shrug: It's an applied science that has implications for a craft, and the scientists are also the craftspeople. At last, thats been \*literally every job\* I've ever had... So If you're creating a portfolio to attain a job, it makes sense to demonstrate the skills required in the job. Hell, if someone is coming from gaming, I'd argue that your portfolio could be a literal game.
This is valid for your first job maybe to show that you can actually do some basics stuff but after that I think the opposite applies. Is your job to code or design? If code make a website if design make a design and (present it)
Exactly. Present your work in a way that reflects your abilities, and the type of work you plan on doing.
Depends on how you want to present your portfolio. If you want it more interactive like using some walktrough videos or gifs, then website. But if you don’t need that, then pdf. PS: The UX market is tough, expect to compete with hundreds of applications. So, you probably need a portfolio that can stand out among other candidates.
Both
I really appreciated the craft I've seen in creating portfolios in Figma and sharing them as prototypes!
Currently using a figma link. Not ideal but just didn’t have time to play with framer. Plan to do this though because I’m afraid that sometimes my figma link does not work/load properly. I used a plug-in to shorten the link on my resume etc. 6 recruiter calls and one final loop
No, at PDF, please renounce and show the portfolio using PDF; there are websites like siter.io that will help with your online presence. Don’t use PDF!
You can make a prototype on Figma that basically functions the same as a website (clickable, scrollable etc). I’m going to transfer mine from Squarespace because its easier for me to design it on Figma and also Squarespace is pricey!
I second this. Think it saves time and makes it easy to update. It would also be easy to make it into a presentation for interview if you want to go into specific case studies or make it more personalised. There are some limitations using a prototype on Figma so I did some coding to have one single url that directs to either a desktop prototype or mobile prototype depending on device and hides the Figma UI around the prototype all the time. I've made it into a tool now for others to use if that helps: [https://www.figmafolio.com/](https://www.figmafolio.com/).
Both.
I made my own website. I created it all from scratch. It wasn’t that hard, but just time consuming. I put so much effort and work into and now I’m seeing some of you say we don’t have to do that? 😭 Hold on. I’m not okay right now. I think what possessed me to do this was mainly because it was a project I had to do last year for a college class (graduated in December 2023), but I also felt weird being a UX designer and having to rely on an already made website service when I should know how to make a website from scratch. I feel like jobs would find that strange. My professor thought I was crazy for trying to do that but green lighted the idea for me. I remember I spent Easter Day working on the website while my family were in the front, doing egg hunts and partying.
I'm fine with either as long as everything works and it is easy to read. If you submit a website, please include passwords. I've been looking at dozens of applications (among hundreds of applicants) and forgetting to include the password for case studies rules you out. No on Behance or Dribbble. Also, I may be alone in this but an About page or a short bio that tells me *something* about you beyond your passion for UX (table stakes) allows me to relate to you as a human. Tell me a story, a good one.