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Hey and welcome back to another week! 👋

In this issue:

• Why You Need A Slide Deck: Just scrolling your portfolio on an interview doesn’t cut it.

• Stay On Top of Tech: Subscribe to one of my favorite newsletters when it comes to staying on top of cool new products & learnings: Product Disrupt!

• Ariane’s Portfolio: If you are multidisciplinary designer you’ll want to have a look here

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How to Nail the Case Study Presentation 💅 

Most designers—especially juniors—don’t think about case study presentations until they’re asked to do one. Sometimes, you’re even put on the spot to present a case study live during an interview without any time to prep. If that happens and you don’t have a slide deck ready, you’re left scrambling to scroll through your portfolio and narrate it on the fly—which rarely leaves a good impression. If you’ve been there, you know the drill: you open your portfolio website and start walking through a case study live. It seems like a good idea, but more often than not, it backfires.

Why? Because you end up reading your case study out loud or simply scrolling through something your interviewer may have already read. That’s not what they’re there for. They want to hear the story from you. In your own words. With the nuance and emphasis that tells them who you are as a designer.

This is why you need a proper case study presentation—a focused slide deck that turns your case study into a compelling, customized narrative. If you’ve never built one, don’t worry. I’ve created a free template to help you get started.

Copy the template here.

Let’s break down what goes into an effective presentation and how to make it work for you.

Why You Can’t Just Show Your Portfolio

Your online case study is a good read. It was written to be read independently. But in a live interview, you’re there. It’s a completely different format, and the expectations change.

Reading aloud from a case study or just scrolling through a portfolio page tends to:

• Kill the dynamic of the conversation

• Bore your interviewer

• Miss the opportunity to tailor your narrative

Instead, use your voice. Use visuals. Use storytelling. That’s where your slide deck comes in. It’s also a chance to go deeper on specific aspects that might be particularly relevant to the role you’re interviewing for—things that may have only been briefly mentioned in your case study or not included at all, since case studies are usually written to work universally, not tailored to each job.

Start With a Modular Slide Deck

Create one slide deck that includes 2–3 of your strongest case studies. You won’t always show all of them—sometimes you’ll only present one—but having them prepared in one deck lets you adapt based on the role and company.

Each case study should be:

• Around 10 slides long

• No more than 3 bullet points per slide

• Anchored by 1 key visual per slide (if it adds value)

Avoid overcrowding. And remember: most of the depth comes from what you say—not what’s written.

You can use speaker notes if needed. I keep mine in Notion, but tools like Figma Slides have built-in speaker note features.

Use the Plane Analogy

Here’s how I like to explain case study presentations:

Imagine your project is a vast piece of land. You can’t walk someone through all of it in the time you have—but you can give them a flyover.

You’re the pilot. The deck is your map. And your voice is the audio guide.

You can even hand them binoculars—by zooming in on specific moments or decisions they’ll care about. And which landmarks you highlight depends on who is on the flight with you:

• A hiring manager who values craft? Focus on your polish, prototypes, and UI details.

• Someone hiring for a data-heavy role? Highlight research, validation, and structured thinking.

You’re not changing the land—you’re just curating the view.

What Slides to Include in Each Case Study

This is what every case study presentation should include, with some flexibility:

1. Project Title & Context What was this? Why was it important? Who was it for? Set the scene.

2. The Problem What business or user challenge were you trying to solve? Add relevant context—how the project came to be.

3. Research (if applicable) Did you run user interviews? Analyze data? Show only what’s relevant—and readable. Skip the Miro screenshot no one can interpret.

4. Initial Exploration / Direction How did you start thinking about solutions? Did you explore multiple directions? Any key pivots?

5. The Solution This is where visuals help. You can:

   • Show a single feature per slide with annotations

   • Do a before/after comparison

   • Show a motion prototype

   Tailor this part to the role. More visuals for craft-focused roles, more structure or decision-making for analytical ones.

6. Impact What happened? Did you move metrics? Improve usability? What was the business or user outcome?

7. Learnings / Reflections What would you do differently next time? What did you learn that you carried into other projects?

You can prepare the full slide deck and hide or skip slides based on who you're presenting to. Mention this briefly during the presentation: “I’ve covered the research work more briefly on the previous slide since I assumed this part wasn’t core to the role—but if it’s of interest, I’m happy to bring that slide back and go deeper.”

This shows you’re thoughtful and adaptable.

Bonus Tips

• Don’t show irrelevant visuals. A screenshot of a cluttered Miro board won’t prove anything. Only show what supports the story.

• Don’t include slides just to prove you did the work. If your low-fi wireframes didn’t significantly change the direction of the project, skip them.

• Do prepare speaker notes. They’ll help keep your story tight and avoid rambling.

• Do reuse and repurpose. Once you’ve created this slide deck, you can reuse it for multiple interviews—just tweak a few slides based on the job.

TL;DR

• Don’t just present your case study from your portfolio

• Do build a dedicated slide deck (2–3 case studies, \~10 slides each)

• Use 3 bullet points max and 1 useful visual per slide

• Curate the story based on the job and audience

• Use my free Figma Slides case study presentation template to get started—it includes all types of slides you could possibly need. Just make them your own by adjusting the styling and mix and match the slide types to create a presentation that fits your project and audience.

Case study presentations are your chance to make your work come alive. Show how you think, not just what you made.

Let your story do the work—and let the slides support it.

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👀 Portfolio Showcase

Today: Ariane Keona Ochoa

Ariane’s (pronounced are-ee-on) portfolio isn’t the usual kind I feature — and that’s exactly why it’s worth looking at.

While most of my reviews focus purely on product or UX/UI designers, Ariane breaks that mold as a multidisciplinary designer working across product, visual, and brand.

That kind of positioning can be tricky to pull off — but Ariane handles it with clarity, style, and a sense of creative identity that shines through every page.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s working — and where a few small changes could make a big impact.

That’s it for this week—thanks so much for the support! ♥️

If you’d like to support my efforts on Open Doors further you can buy me a coffee. If you ever got any value from my emails consider it so I can keep this newsletter free and available to everyone out there.

Do you want your own portfolio reviewed in-depth with a 30-minute advice-packed video review? Or do you require mentoring to figure out a proper strategy for your job search?

I got you!

• Book an in-depth portfolio or resume review with me

• Book a mentoring session with me

• Book a quick 15 min chat to ask a question and see if we vibe

Keep kicking doors open and see you next week!
- Florian