Three tips on design leaders’ portfolio presentations

Winning your interviewers’ heart like a rock star

Illustration by Liubov Dronova

As a design leader, one of the most rewarding aspects of my role has been helping other design managers grow and building a strong leadership bench. Over the past 14 years of my career as a design executive in various tech companies, I’ve had the privilege of hiring over 30 managers at different levels and interviewing hundreds of candidates. These individuals have spanned a wide spectrum — some were just stepping into their first people management roles, while others were seasoned leaders with decades of experience.

No matter their background or career stage, all of them had to navigate a crucial part of the hiring process: the portfolio presentation. The companies require a portfolio presentation to visually see the candidates’ achievements and capabilities in an expedited fashion. In a short time of 45–60 minutes, countless things are evaluated: your design sense, craft bar, problem-solving skills, business impact, management style, operating principles, communication skills, personality, and even potential working chemistry. Consider it a performance on the stage — you’re about to burst out the energy you’ve been accumulating over many years of your career. You need to make the most of this short time to form the best impression about you.

After seeing countless presentations, I’ve observed recurring pitfalls and common success factors that can make or break a candidate’s chances. I thought it would be helpful to share some practical advice for design leaders preparing for their next journey.

Back in 2017, I wrote an article titled 10 Interview Tips I Share with My Designer Candidates to help IC designers prepare for onsite interviews. This new article is a continuation of that spirit but tailored for managers and leadership candidates focusing on portfolio presentations.

From my own experience, three universal ingredients for successful presentations were: storytelling, balance, and the flavor of “you.”

1. Storytelling

Overall framework of the presentation

Keep in mind that a portfolio presentation is an act of storytelling, not a product demo or a status report. Your goal is to craft a narrative that captivates and resonates with your audience.

• Simplify your story
  Leaders, especially those who’ve spent a significant amount of time at one company, often overlook how little an external audience might know about their organization or product. As a result, their presentations can be filled with internal jargon, and unnecessary details, or come across as technical demos tailored to an insider audience. To sidestep this common mistake, before the interview, try presenting your case studies to someone completely unfamiliar with your industry, like a friend or family member. Can they grasp the problem you tackled and why it was important? Focus on clear, accessible language instead of complex buzzwords. Remember, companies won’t hire you because you sound impressive — they’ll hire you because your work is clear, relatable, and inspiring.
• Structure a clear narrative arc
  Every great story has a beginning, middle, and end. Think about your favorite movies or books — those that have stayed with you for years. Start with a clear problem, share the proper fidelity of the sausage-making process, build toward moments of insight or revelation, and wrap up with learnings and next steps. Add unexpected twists or unique perspectives to keep it engaging. If the audience felt that your presentation was too hard to understand or too cliche, then your storytelling wasn’t successful. Stories that resonate tend to be memorable — your goal is to leave a lasting impression.

2. Balance

The meat of your story

Today’s industry climate demands design managers who excel as both team leaders and individual contributors (ICs). Companies are seeking versatile leaders who can wear multiple hats, and your portfolio presentation should reflect this by striking the right balance in several key areas:

• Team operations vs. product innovation
  It’s not enough to focus solely on people management or operational success; you also need to demonstrate your ability to lead an impactful design strategy. Many companies today are trying to achieve more with fewer resources, often in flatter organizational structures. As a result, the distinction between people managers and IC leaders is increasingly blurred. Your presentation should convey how you’ve successfully built and supported your team — whether by improving processes, mentoring talent, or fostering collaboration — while also showcasing your role in driving product innovation. Hiring teams want to see how you’ve directly influenced both the team and the product.
• Strategic vision vs. tactical execution
  Finding the right level of detail is a delicate balance. If your presentation is too high-level, you risk appearing disconnected from the work. Conversely, diving too deeply into execution details can make it seem like you lack strategic perspective. The sweet spot is an example where you’ve crafted a long-term vision, broken it into a roadmap, and delivered measurable results. If you don’t have that perfect example, an alternative approach could be to present two case studies: one that highlights your ability to rally a team around a compelling vision and another that illustrates your attention to detail in iterative execution that landed a tangible business impact. Choosing the right case studies is also a skill, and it demonstrates how much you understand what the company is looking for.
• Business impact vs. user needs
  This balance might sound obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to overlook. Your case studies should begin with a problem statement that encompasses both business and user needs. Similarly, the outcomes you highlight should also demonstrate improvements to both business metrics and user experience. For example, show how you drove revenue growth or operational efficiencies while simultaneously enhancing usability or customer satisfaction. Business impact shows your analytical rigor, while user-focused solutions highlight your empathy and design craft.
• Breadth vs. depth
  Hiring teams want to know you can operate effectively across a wide range of responsibilities, from recruiting and team operations to vision-setting and execution. At the same time, they want to see that you can solve product problems as a super IC. At DoorDash, we call this “T-shaped leadership” — The horizontal line in T stands for the breadth, while the vertical line stands for the depth. In your presentation, highlight both: demonstrate your versatility across various responsibilities and showcase areas where you’ve gone deeper to make an outsized impact.
• Leading from the front vs. the back
  Many leaders describe themselves as servant leaders, emphasizing humility and enablement. While this is admirable, make sure it doesn’t come across as you were merely a people manager who had no voice in the product strategy. It’s equally important to show that you can step forward when necessary — bringing clarity, driving strategic vision, and offering original thinking. Effective leadership is about striking the right balance between being supportive behind the scenes and leading from the front when the team needs a guiding beacon. Your presentation should reflect this ability to lead boldly without coming across as egotistical.

3. The flavor of “you”

The cherry on top

Based on my experience, a hiring manager typically reviews at least a hundred candidate profiles and conducts 4–5 onsite interviews to fill a single manager role, often over several months. To stand out in this competitive process, your unique qualities must shine clearly through your presentation. This may be the only company that you’re interviewing, but you are certainly not the only candidate they are interviewing.

• Your unique contributions
  Articulate what wouldn’t have been possible if you hadn’t been there, whether it’s about your creativity, courage, conviction, grit, persistence, extraordinary constraints, etc. Some of my favorite stories from the past candidates were:
• A leader pushed forward with the design direction with strong conviction and persistence against internal skepticism
• A leader went the extra mile to seek truth and helped the team avoid going in the wrong direction
• A leader took the courage to make a hard decision to pivot a strategy for a better long-term outcome, even if it was costly and disruptive for the short-term
• Your brand
  I believe that it’s important for any leader to own a brand — what they are known for, and what legacy they are leaving behind. The best way to show this is through the unique approach and principles you practiced in each case study. For some leaders, it’s customer obsession and truth-seeking. For others, it’s craft, detail-orientedness, or 0-to-1 innovations. For my own brand, it’s always been about raising the bar in the quality of products and the caliber of teams. What is yours?
• Your craft
  The product you shipped is the result of a collective effort with your cross-functional team, but your portfolio deck is entirely your own — designed by you, for your career. Take ownership of its quality and invest the time to refine it. Approach it with the same care and attention you advocate for in product design. Remember, your deck design is also being evaluated, and many candidates overlook the impact it has on their overall impression.
• Your personality
  As design leaders, we rarely get the chance to focus on ourselves since our role is usually centered on the team and the products we create. Use this unique opportunity to let your personality shine. Infuse your presentation with your individuality — through your introduction, choice of colors, typography, and overall tone — allowing it to reflect who you are authentically.
• Your motivation
  Clearly articulate why you want to join the company and demonstrate that you’ve done your homework. Take the time to research their products, culture, and mission, and come prepared with thoughtful questions. Be ready to answer, “Why are you interested in joining our company?” If they sense that you are unpreparedly giving a cookie-cutter answer, the onsite will likely result in a cookie-cutter rejection. When candidates are equally qualified, genuine passion and a well-researched motivation can make all the difference in tipping the scales in your favor.

4. Bonus: Tips on how you present

The above tips were all about the structure and content of the presentation material itself. I want to briefly also share some tips on how you perform the presentation during the onsite interview.

• Maintain high energy throughout your presentation — the audience will mirror the enthusiasm you bring. Low energy can be interpreted as a lack of interest in the role, so approach it with the mindset that this is your final performance on stage. This is your time to shine, and your excitement about your story will resonate and leave a lasting impression.
• Avoid reading from a script — it’s one of the quickest ways to disengage your audience. Even if you think you’re reading naturally without your eyeballs barely moving, the audience can easily tell. They’ll sense your focus is more on completing reading the script than on connecting with them. Instead, aim to speak conversationally and engage directly with your listeners to keep them involved.
• Be deliberate with your time. Wrapping up too quickly may give the impression that you didn’t prepare enough materials, while running over time can raise doubts about your ability to manage time constraints. The key to mastering this is simple: practice, and then practice some more.
• Avoid diminishing your work with phrases like “It’s just.” While you might intend to sound humble, it can come across as a lack of confidence. Remember, you chose these case studies because they represent the highlights of your career. Own them with pride and present them with confidence.

Preparing a compelling portfolio presentation is as much about showcasing your achievements as it is about revealing your leadership essence. By mastering storytelling, striking the right balance in the content, and infusing the presentation with your unique flavor, you can transform this challenge into a powerful opportunity. Remember, this is your stage to shine — to demonstrate not only what you’ve accomplished but how you think, lead, and inspire. Invest the time to craft your narrative, polish your materials, and show your passion for the role. When done right, your presentation can leave an unforgettable impression and pave the way to the next chapter in your leadership journey.

I’d also caveat that every company’s need is different, and they may index on one area more than others. It’s essential to thoroughly research the company’s needs to tailor your presentation to what they value most.

If you have thoughts or questions, feel free to share or reach out! For senior leaders preparing for upcoming interview presentations, I’d be glad to offer advice.

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Helena Seo is the Head of Design at DoorDash. We’re actively hiring seasoned talents in all functions of Design. Please visit our career page!