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"How do I show design impact without having the numbers?" I get asked this ALL the time. What I learned is the numbers help. But they're not the whole story. 5 things that SELL your work ↓ (during your portfolio presentations) 𝟭. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Before vs After tells a story numbers can't. → The messy problem → The solution you delivered → The aftershock that stuck 💡 Pro tip: Add a “Before / After” slide to every case study — literally label it that. 1 screen for the old flow, 1 for the new. Let contrast do the talking. ↓ 𝟮. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 Numbers tell one story. People tell a better one. → The PM who loved the sprint → The VP who finally got buy-in → The user who had raving reviews 💡 Pro tip: Add a “Voices” slide in every case study. Include 1–2 short quotes from stakeholders — ideally in their own words. Real voices build real trust. ↓ 𝟯. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 You don't need exact metrics to show impact: → "Accelerated onboarding for new hires" → "Eliminated a major customer pain point" → "Reduced support tickets" (even without the number) 💡 Pro tip: Frame your results in outcomes, not outputs. Write every impact sentence like this: “This design helped [team/user] do [thing] better.” ↓ 𝟰. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 Generic case studies = ignored Tailored examples = conversations → B2B client? Show your enterprise work → Consumer app? Highlight your mobile projects → Startup pitch? Feature speed and scrappiness 💡 Pro tip: Before you present, look up their website. Mirror their language, tone, or colour palette in your slides. Make them see themselves in your work. ↓ 𝟱. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 How you think (more than what you made) Show them: → What you'd do differently now → How you identified the real problem → Why you chose this approach over others 💡 Pro tip: End every case study with a slide titled “What I’d Do Differently.” It signals maturity and instantly builds trust. ↓ Don’t build your slides just to impress designers. Build them to make clients nod: “They get it.” This happens through: 1. Clear thinking. 2. Relevant work. 3. Not vanity metrics. Start with these questions: • Who is my ideal clients or companies? • What am I really good at? (Or love doing?) • How can I showcase work that bridges both? Answer those first. Everything else flows from there. ♻ Repost to help others present their work better. P.S. If your portfolio were a LinkedIn post, would you actually read it? 🥶 📌 If you’re in the middle of portfolio updates, my playbook would help: https://lnkd.in/gDje-7VQ | 50 comments on LinkedIn

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