Product Design Hiring: how to present a killer case study
For simple reasons, designers miss opportunities and let potential bridges with leading design companies erode away. What can you do to convey your talents well?
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As a designer who, for the past 2 years or so, has been actively engaged in the hiring process of new designers at VTEX, I can say that I’ve seen it all — for better and for worse. Our hiring process is undergoing changes and adaptations, but one step that is here to stay is the case study presentation. This is the moment when candidates can market and embellish their knowhow. The chance to grab the spotlight and be pivotal to the creation of a product and show the mettle. This is where our biggest hiring bounce rate also lurks.
At VTEX, I am known as someone hard to appease. Tough love. The famous "hard case”. I am usually very scrupulous, starting from the LinkedIn assessment to the case presentation itself, but I admit sometimes catching myself cheering for one candidate or another. These are the ones that you identify with in some way, in maybe a well-constructed argument or a well-placed reference. You see potential and hope it all works out. Then comes the case study presentation and everything goes awry. The narrative is confusing, with questions arising as to design motivations, in addition to dubious decision making. And with that, my friend, I have to cut you loose.
I truly believe that most of these people are not inherently bad designers. But part of a designer’s job is to make a problem make sense and find the light at the end of the tunnel. It is to outline the research process, put forward a clear solution proposal and take a magnifying glass to the sensitive points that deserve long-term attention. Designer may have done it all, but when they can’t communicate it, we don’t have a crystal ball to delve beyond what candidates convey.
I like to think that part of the change in our process has to do with proactivity. We’ve moved passed the passive expectation that well-qualified and prepared designers will fall into our lap, and began to pursue these new professionals and provide them with the tools needed to improve alongside us. With that in mind, we want to shed light on the terror of case study presentations and share some recommendations and instructions on how to make a presentation that any UX reviewer would be glad to see and hear.
Deliver a narrative with a beginning, middle and end
It may seem obvious, but it’s not that simple. Starting a case doesn’t necessarily happen the moment you enter the project. Nor does it mean when the first workshop was made. Begin the presentation by giving context on the project and the company you were part of. Help us understand why this project was prioritized and why you were the ideal person to manage this process and experience. Remember that most good projects result from either a problem or an opportunity.
Build the narrative linearly, avoid going back and forth on the timeline. Also avoid mentioning many names, we probably won’t remember who is who by the end of the presentation. Trigger events and learning, tie the dots between studies, and make it clear that the project has followed this path due to logical and strategic thinking without losing its freedom of experimentation and creativity.
Finally, end your presentation with the lessons learned and, if any, a long-term follow-up plan. Show us how you want to measure product success and what the next deliverables would be. Surprise us with possible advances and opportunities for improvement beyond your participation in the project.
Value yourself without bragging
This topic at hand requires a good deal of self-criticism. We often interview candidates who cannot filter how much they should talk about themselves. Usually one of two things happens: either candidates lean towards too much — indulging in incessant “I” talk — as if they were the project heroes and did it all by themselves, or the opposite, they shy away from talking about their role in the project and only refers to the team in which they worked as a whole. In both cases, it creates a recipe for rejection by the appraisers.
Our job is to make sure people who want to join the company know how to work in teams, can make difficult decisions responsibly and are able to position themselves as the leaders of their products.
We want to understand your participation in a team, how you interact with your peers and come up with approaches for the design process. In addition, we want to see how you share responsibility with people in other areas and are able to balance your views when faced with technical limitations.
In short, you may be incredible, but we bet that your colleagues played a decisive role in bringing this story to fruition.
Frameworks are incredible when used wisely
This topic is so sensitive that, because of frequent misuse by candidates, I even developed certain (temporary) prejudices with regards to some methodologies. There is nothing as harmful to a case presentation as a poorly structured and meaningless process. The flow created between each discovery is what creates a good project narrative.
Do not use frameworks just for the sake of it. Not all methodologies are generic enough to mold to your project. Conducting a series of workshops and activities that all lead to the same place — or that lead nowhere — shows that the designer needs to “pivot” that strategy and attempt something else. If you did all this and came to a conclusion that has nothing to do with the results of the activities, it may seem that the path taken to achieve such a decision was malicious and that the candidate just wanted to validate an already formed opinion.
This next one is quite straightforward, don’t trample rules (or at least avoid this at all cost). There’s an investigative path, which is following user surveys, analysing metrics, everything directed at a specific issue. This is a hypothesis, so treat it as such. This hypothesis is an interpretation of what the issue may be, which at the end of your process can be validated or not. There is nothing wrong if it turns to be the latter! A designer’s life is not only made up of success and sometimes mistakes enable us to reach even higher places.
Bring an impactful project
We want bold people. Out-of-box, purposeful, individuals that know how to take risks — safely, of course. We understand that not everyone has the opportunity to do a big or complex project, but we want to see the project through your eyes and envision what could go beyond the demand you were tasked with.
It is quite common to see projects that are more focused on a micro-experience or a small scale experiment. This is not necessarily a problem, but the candidate has to know how to sell that project. As we well know, that small detail that may seem unimportant to amateur eyes can have a big impact on the company’s business.
When scarcely explored, micro-problems become annoying very fast, because candidates often fail to delve into the issue deep enough to capture our interest. When choosing to present something, don’t hold back in your speech, let us understand why this is important to the company, why it warrants investing time and resources into, the ROI the company can expect if the proposed changes work.
Let’s talk business
The design process is cool, end users are well defined, the flows and screens are well made, prototypes all point towards high fidelity, everything is wonderful. The presentation comes to an end. The appraisers look at one another and one of them asks: cool, but what was the ROI?
We are designers, but we are also product managers. It is part of our job to actively participate in strategic product decisions and ensure the solution is impactful and thereby generate ROI for the company and/or customer — whether financial or through any other metric used to measure the solution’s success.
When we work as Product Designers, we constantly have to be aware of changing market context and scenery. The foundation of this position is the adoption of a project that has no defined purpose, so it is essential that this product remains competitive and always up-to-date in terms of technology and usability.
With that in mind, talk to the project’s stakeholders and sponsors and understand what they want to gain by sponsoring this project and how willing they are to collaborate and invest resources. What business opportunities can your product encompass? Help these stakeholders and sponsors see how big they can dream by leveraging your work. Also be sure to establish business metrics to track your product’s performance and success. After all, this is how tangible proof of your product’s success is gained, proof that is more easily absorbed and digested.
Seniors, don’t let your guard down
Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments in an appraiser’s life is to watch the case of someone claiming to be senior and after the presentation think about wether that person would consider a downgrade if they enter the company.
Senior designers having 6 years or more of experience need to bring a project that sparkles in our eyes, that makes us eager to send them an offer the very next day. We seek this anxiety. However, many times what we see are unprepared seniors, insecure and even convinced that they should not even be presenting there, after all they are senior designers.
If the candidate is in a senior position and does not present a complex project relevant to his or her experience, it can be a critical assessment blow that can escalate into a very quick rejection. Don’t confuse confidence with pride, being senior means you have more to prove, not less.
At the end of the day…
…we’re not perfect. Appraisers are not mystical superhuman beings that master every best practice in design and product management. Of course we have a requirement bar to meet, a format that helps us come to up with a fairer and less subjective hiring process. But it is not just through formality that an excellent presentation is made.
In the end we want people who are passionate about their work. It warms our heart to see the sparkle in the eyes of those who do what they love and this matters a lot. No "pixel-perfect" screen can replace the thirst for knowledge and the humble recognition of your skills.
We seek real people with real feelings. We want to see a strong personality and emotional maturity to deal with people and challenges — not least because our challenges are no joke. We need people who are collaborative and want to contribute to the wellbeing of the community as best they can.
The best advice we can give you is: be yourself and show us what you are capable of when at your best. Really go for it! Trust your process.
Ah! And just between us here… just know that every appraiser is always secretly cheering for you. 😉
