I once heard a senior designer friend mention that when he noticed a designer submitting a job application with a PDF briefing, he mentally deducted points from their evaluation. So, I inquired, “What tool would you recommend for designer interviews when it comes to presentations?”
It’s not uncommon for product (UI/UX) designers to lack a personal website. Lately, within the UI/UX design community, there’s been a buzz about leveraging Notion’s online publishing feature to craft digital portfolios. Additionally, tools like Figma for UI design, PowerPoint, or Google Slides for presentations are widely used.
In my experience, I initially relied on PowerPoint to assemble my design portfolio. Over time, I transitioned to using Figma for layout design, which I then exported into PDF format. If I were to pinpoint a drawback of PDFs, it would be their tendency to bloat in size with added content, making them cumbersome to email to recruiters or headhunters. The ability to streamline content through URLs in online portfolios is undoubtedly advantageous.
Nevertheless, I’ve faced the predicament of being unable to access the internet during an interview in an office with poor network connectivity. In such scenarios, offline files come to the rescue, ensuring accessibility.
I firmly believe that a product (UI/UX) designer should be committed to staying abreast of the latest technologies. However, alongside this pursuit, they must possess versatile adaptability and embrace both new and traditional formats without constraint.