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Stage 11 · Core · Intermediate

Portfolio and career readiness

Build case studies, a portfolio site and the skills to get hired or win clients.

  • 18 lessons
  • about 7 h 55 min of reading and practice
  • all written
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About this stage

A portfolio is evidence of how you think, not a gallery of pretty screens. This stage turns your projects into concise case studies and prepares you for interviews, design challenges and client work. The career guide has the practical checklists.

Before this stage Stage 10: Product thinking and collaboration

Learning outcomes

  • Choose portfolio projects that show reasoning and range.
  • Write concise case studies with context, process, trade-offs and outcomes.
  • Present work and handle design challenges in interviews.
  • Manage client feedback and project scope as a freelancer.

Lessons

  1. Selecting meaningful portfolio projects

    Quality over quantity.

    Reading 25 min

  2. Structuring a case study

    A structure reviewers can skim.

    Reading 35 min

  3. Writing problem statements and explaining context

    Setting up the story.

    Reading 25 min

  4. Demonstrating research and reasoning

    Showing how evidence shaped decisions.

    Reading 25 min

  5. Showing explorations and iterations

    Including the ideas you rejected and why.

    Reading 25 min

  6. Presenting wireframes and final UI

    Images that explain rather than decorate.

    Reading 25 min

  7. Explaining usability testing and outcomes

    Honest results, including what did not work.

    Reading 25 min

  8. Showing constraints and trade-offs

    Why real decisions are messy.

    Reading 20 min

  9. Writing concise case studies

    Editing for busy readers.

    Reading 25 min

  10. Portfolio website structure

    Home, case studies, about and contact.

    Reading 30 min

  11. Resume and professional profile

    Resumes and profiles for design roles.

    Reading 25 min

  12. Presenting work in interviews

    The portfolio presentation.

    Reading 30 min

  13. Whiteboard exercises and design challenges

    A framework for live challenges.

    Reading 35 min

  14. Product design interview preparation

    Common rounds and questions.

    Reading 30 min

  15. Giving and receiving critique

    Feedback that helps.

    Reading 20 min

  16. Working with clients and managing feedback

    Expectations, revisions and difficult conversations.

    Reading 25 min

  17. Freelancing and communicating project scope

    Proposals, scope and change requests.

    Reading 30 min

  18. Creating a continuing learning plan

    What to learn after this academy.

    Reading 20 min