Test assignments or portfolio: what works for a UX designer?
Do test assignments make sense for a UX designer?
All companies have the same criteria for selecting the team’s ideal UX/UI designer. It is a portfolio or a test assignment and an interview. Any HR manager will tell you that all criteria are considered. After all, being able to do an interview doesn’t mean you have all the necessary hard and soft skills. And a candidate with a good portfolio may perform the test task poorly and unprofessionally.
At the same time, UX/UI designers often face unscrupulous employers represented by HR managers who break agreements and forget to inform about the decision. And it’s one thing if you submit a portfolio for consideration; it’s another if you’ve completed a time-consuming test assignment. So is it worth agreeing to them?
Background and your own mistakes
Let me start by saying that I work for a company as a UX designer. But sometimes, during holidays, I challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone, gain new knowledge about products on the market and pump up my skills. I decided to try an interview to gain further experience and feedback this time.
Since I keep getting offers from recruiters, I looked through the latest ones and decided to choose one of them. My selection criteria:
- An exciting field not related to work projects: car rental in Europe;
- Familiarity with the service (brand: competitive and well-known company);
- Interesting project brief;
- Insights: a promise of good feedback on a test assignment. By the way, I gave up test assignments a long time ago, as I have a portfolio. But here was an exciting task to analyze, find a solution, and implement, and I had a couple of days off.
The first thing that alerted me was the request to complete the test task over the weekend. This is rather strange for a European company. But the manager gave some reasons for the rush, so I agreed.
I solved the task on time. I sent it for approval. And here, a second disappointment awaited me. Even after a polite Thank-You Letter, I did not receive the promised feedback.
Why did this happen? What was my mistake?
That I deviated from the principle and took the test assignment, in fact, once again, I confirmed the rule:
If a company is looking for a UX designer with experience, they will look at your portfolio, interview you and take you on probation. If they are looking for a young and ambitious designer, they will take you on a project with no experience.
Why don’t test assignments for a UX designer make sense?
Test assignments rarely show a UX designer’s professionalism. Why? There are several reasons.
1. The assignment is poorly worded. There is no project brief or business requirement. The task is often: “Make … to your taste so that we understand whether we can work together or not”. To judge a UX designer’s taste, it’s enough to look at his portfolio.
2. The task takes longer than the test task format suggests. From experience, I will say that once I received a test task in the form of a whole project designed for about two months of daily work.
3. Unpaid time. Few clients are willing to pay for a test assignment. If you take on such a test assignment, you must either get honest feedback on it or make it so that it can be added to your portfolio.
4. An actual commercial assignment is submitted under the guise of a free test assignment. It may be formulated as follows: “You want to draw a ready-made mockup, not a prototype. As a result, we are waiting for a sketch, prepared for a desktop version”. It seems clear that you will perform the task for free, for which someone will get money.
How do you protect yourself if you take on a test assignment?
Test assignments are always different. When you get it, ask if it’s a real task, if you have access to analytics, what kind of output you’re expected to produce, whether adaptive solutions are needed, and whether the focus is on UI or UX.
Here are some more tips that may be useful for you if you want to protect yourself and reassure yourself.
- Before you do a test task, estimate its scope. On average, it shouldn’t take longer than a working day. Optimum is up to 4 hours. If you feel that the employer gives you too voluminous a task, argue the position and ask to replace it.
- If you have a portfolio, explain why it does not suit the company and why you need to do the test.
- If you are an experienced UX designer, ask for payment for a time-consuming test assignment. If you’re applying for a trainee position, ask if you can add the test task to your portfolio.
- Add watermarks to your images.
- Experienced designers often ask the company to sign an agreement that the work cannot be used for commercial purposes.
- If something confuses you in a test assignment, ask clarifying questions.
- If you sent a test assignment on time and did not receive a reply, you can remind yourself and send a thank you letter. The letter should introduce yourself, state the date of the last meeting, which position you discussed, and ask if a decision has been made on your candidacy. You can add that your motive is not to rush the company into a decision but to remind them of your interest in the position or job.
How to avoid the tests?
There’s only one option here. Collect a portfolio that demonstrates your professionalism.
If you’re new to UX/UI design, a great tactic is to take a short course and put together a portfolio. By the way, it’s just great if the method you choose is to solve problems on real briefs.
When putting together a portfolio, pay attention to the submission of the result and the demonstration of the intermediate stages, sticking to the user-centred Design or Design thinking scheme.
Here are some services for assembling a detailed portfolio:
These tools take away a lot of the inconvenience of planning the layout, coding and managing the site where you will be adding work to your portfolio.
I also recommend keeping an eye out for new services and new features on your resources. So, for example, if you have a profile on Dribbble, check out Dribbble Playbook. It takes your profile data, untags it from Dribbble and leaves you with an optimized website you can share links to with potential clients.
What portfolio works for you?
In my experience, any UX project can be packed into a design portfolio. Below are a couple of tips to make it more memorable and effective.
- Don’t overload the portfolio with prototypes, visualizations and vast blocks of research text. Look for a visually appealing form for the cases.
2. Think about the overall texture of the case studies. Example: talking points, tasks, UX challenges, UX solutions.
3. Illustrate the process: sketches, notes, wireframes. These will form a story worthy of a portfolio.
4. No matter how briefly you describe the project, include specific results with precise figures and data.
5. Describe the project so that anyone, even a recruiter who may be far removed from the design, understands what you do.
6. Share your impression of the final product. What you think about your work makes a huge difference and shows your attitude to projects, giving them depth.
7. Try to give case titles with characters. Let them intrigue recruiters and potential clients.
8. Target recruiters when writing descriptions. Tell them why this project was successful. What made it a valuable experience for you?
9. Always explain your role in the project so that potential clients or employers can see how you can fit into their team.
10. When writing descriptions, think less about the process and more about your strengths. Everyone’s process is about the same, and your steps are the basis for the story, not the story itself.
I hope all the advice is helpful to you.
