A portfolio shows what your designs look like; a career description shows what they changed. For each project, state your role in the design team, the tools and methods, and the product result after release, such as task success rate, conversion or support volume. Keep it compact and let the portfolio carry the visuals.
For: Product designers with a portfolio who also need a written record of their project outcomes
Start with this example ↗All people, companies and numbers here are fictional. Replace them with your own career.
Eunji Song
Product Designer · 6 years
eunji.song@example.com
Core strengths
• Raised checkout completion from 64% to 78% through flow redesign
• Built a 48-component design system used by 4 product squads
• Runs usability tests every sprint with 5 or more participants
• Works closely with front-end developers on design tokens
Career details
Example Travel Platform · Product Design Team Senior Product Designer
2021-06 – Present
Responsibilities Designs booking and payment flows for a travel reservation app and web service.
Checkout Flow Redesign
2023-01 – 2023-07
Role Lead designer · Team Team of 6 · Contribution 70%
Technologies Figma · Maze · Hotjar
• Reduced checkout from 5 screens to 3 after 2 rounds of usability tests.
• Raised checkout completion from 64% to 78%.
• Cut payment-related support tickets by 31%.
Design System Build-out
2021-09 – 2022-08
Role Co-owner · Team Team of 4 · Contribution 50%
Technologies Figma · Storybook · Zeroheight
• Defined 48 core components and 120 design tokens.
• Cut new-screen design time by about 35% across 4 squads.
• Documented usage rules adopted by 9 front-end developers.
Example Education Startup · Product Team UI/UX Designer
2018-08 – 2021-05
Responsibilities Designed learning screens and parent dashboards for an online tutoring service.
Parent Dashboard Launch
2019-10 – 2020-05
Role Sole designer · Team Team of 5 · Contribution Lead
Technologies Sketch · Zeplin · Google Analytics
• Designed 22 screens after interviews with 10 parents.
• Raised weekly parent log-ins by 45% in 3 months.
• Reduced progress-related inquiries by 20%.
Reason for leaving Sought a larger design team and design system work
Skills
Design Figma · Sketch · Prototyping · Design systems
Three keys to a Product Designer career description
01
Complement the portfolio, do not repeat it
The reviewer will open your portfolio for screens and process. The career description should give the facts the portfolio often lacks: exact periods, team size, your share of the work and the numbers after launch. Use matching project names in both so they can be cross-referenced.
02
Describe methods as actions with counts
Instead of 'conducted user research', write '8 usability tests with 5 participants each'. Counts of interviews, test rounds, components or screens make the scope of your design work concrete and help the reviewer judge seniority.
03
Connect design changes to product metrics
Design results are measurable: completion rate, time on task, conversion, error rate, support tickets. Work with your PM or analyst to get a before-and-after figure, and express it as a percentage if the underlying number cannot be shared.
Rewrite result lines like this
BeforeDesigned the new checkout screens.
AfterRedesigned checkout from 5 screens to 3 after 2 rounds of usability tests, raising checkout completion from 64% to 78%.
The method, the size of the change and the completion rate show both process and outcome.
BeforeWe built a design system for the company.
AfterBuilt 48 core components in a shared Figma library with 1 other designer and 2 front-end developers, cutting new-screen design time by about 35%.
Specifying collaborators and your output replaces the 'we' and makes your share visible.
BeforeImproved the usability of the app.
AfterReworked the search filter UI after 12 session recordings showed repeated backtracking, lowering filter abandonment by 26%.
A specific screen, the evidence that triggered it and the metric turn 'usability' into a result.
Common mistakes
Copying portfolio case-study text instead of writing short result lines
Listing tools like Figma for every project without saying what was made
Omitting team size so solo and group work look identical
Using metrics with no before value or time frame
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a career description if I have a portfolio?
When a Korean employer asks for one, yes. The two serve different purposes: the portfolio shows craft and process, and the career description gives a one-glance summary of scope and results that recruiters and non-design interviewers can read quickly.
What if I do not have result metrics for my designs?
Ask the PM or analytics team for launch data, or use proxy measures you collected yourself, such as task success in usability tests. If nothing is measurable, describe the scope with counts, for example 30 screens or 3 platforms, rather than leaving the line vague.
Should I link my portfolio in the document?
Yes. Put the link near your name and use the same project titles in both documents. Check that the link works without login and that confidential screens are masked before you send it.
Build your career description from this example
The button opens a career description filled with this example in the editor. You need to sign in, and you can change content and design freely. The editor's check panel flags result lines without numbers and the page count.