UX Presentations
UX presentations are an important part of the interviewing process because as an UX professional, you'll likely be asked to give several presentations to communicate research findings, design prototypes, and design decisions to your stakeholders. The better we present, the better we’re able to persuade stakeholders and get buy-in for our ideas.
Scenarios
- Walk me through a few projects you have worked on.
- Walk us through your portfolio.
- Please present one of your design projects.
- Let’s take a look at your UX portfolio. Can you walk us through your process and methods for one of your projects?
- Take us through a UX design example from your project portfolio where you set out to solve a business problem.
Know your projects
If you followed this guide you should have already created a portfolio with a couple case studies. If you haven't, pick your best projects and write good case studies that clearly explain them. After creating your case studies, you should have immersed yourself in the projects so explaining the why behind your design decisions will be second nature.
As part of your preparation, you should focus on 2 or 3 of your projects to deeply master. During your interview, you may be asked to briefly summarize your projects without using your portfolio or case studies.
You might also be asked to give a detailed presentation of your portfolio in front of a panel, who will be questioning your entire design process and decisions. In this scenario, it's important that the case studies are structured in a way that helps outline your presentation. Use headings as main talking points, add visuals to break up text, and clearly highlight the important parts to emphasize.
Alternatively, you may choose to create presentation slides instead. If your online case studies are too verbose and detailed, I'd recommend creating simple slides for your presentation to focus on the main story. Just make sure whatever format you choose is acceptable.
Tell a story
There is a story in every project. Uncovering that story for the audience builds meaning and engagement. Create an outline from the stages listed in your case study. Remember that you might not have time to present every little detail, so focus in on the things that matter the most. When you're done, go over that story and focus on the transitions. If any of them feel unnatural or don't seamlessly connect, you're missing a step.
Prepare to answer
- Who you are and what was your role?
- What business problems did you solve?
- What user problems did you solve?
- What research did you perform?
- What actionable insights did you obtain from your research?
- What was your solution?
- What were some challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? Were there any conflicts?
- What were some constraints or limitations?
- What, if any, mistakes did you make?
- What did you learn?
- Choice of technology & their trade-offs (optional)
- Things you would do differently.
You should be able to defend your design decisions with data whenever possible. Try to anticipate your audience’s response. Where might they object or have questions? How will you respond? You can’t consider every possible response, but this exercise will help you practice thinking on your feet.
Be prepared to have metrics, statistics, and concrete outcomes of the design work you've done.
Know your audience
What are their backgrounds? What are they looking for? Look at the job posting. Are they looking for a visual designer? They might be more interested in your visual designs. UI Designer? Spend more time talking about component design. Personalize your presentation for your audience to come up with an efficient presentation style.
Before your presentation
Make sure you understand the logistics. Ask about the format, time, place, location, who will be there, presentation duration, how many projects you should prepare to present, etc. Send an email to confirm the details if necessary. Adjust your presentation accordingly.
About stage fright
The only thing I can really say about this is practice. Practice giving presentations in your room to your dog, cat, or duck, or rent a room at your local library. Don't worry about getting every little detail right. Hit the main points and focus on telling a story.