Pretty pixels ≠ impact
Your portfolio looks good but doesn't tell the story of what changed because of you.
For designers who can't seem to get past the portfolio review
Your designs shipped. Your career didn't.
Stop losing to designers with prettier Figma files.
- Portfolio that tells stories, not just shows screens
- Quantify design impact without fabricating metrics
- Interview prep for design critiques and presentations
Fix My Portfolio Story
For Product Designers, UX Designers, and Design Leads.
Only 3 design career coaching spots this month
21 days
Average time to first interview
$47K
Average salary increase negotiated
89%
Land offers within 60 days
Steve J. Ngoumnai
Founder, Head Career Coach
The problem
Design portfolios are judged like art shows. That's wrong.
You solve problems. Let's show it.
Design critiques are terrifying
You know your work is good, but presenting it under pressure is different.
Is it your portfolio or is it you?
After enough rejections, you start to wonder. (It's probably neither. It's the story.)
Sound familiar?
The product design job search reality
These are the conversations we have every day with designers just like you.
"Juniors with prettier Dribbble shots are getting the roles"
You've shipped to millions of users and moved real metrics. But the designer with the fancy case study animations and 3D illustrations got the callback. Design hiring is broken.
"I don't have metrics because nobody tracked them"
Your design improved the experience, but the company didn't run an A/B test. Now you can't prove impact because there's no before/after data. How do you quantify 'better'?
"Design critiques terrify me"
You know your work is good. But presenting it to a panel of designers who are looking for flaws? Your brain goes blank. You forget why you made decisions that made perfect sense at the time.
"My portfolio is outdated but I can't show new work"
Your best recent work is under NDA or hasn't shipped yet. You're stuck showing 3-year-old projects that don't represent your current level.
"I did the research, but the PM took credit"
You conducted the user interviews, synthesized the insights, and drove the redesign. But in the press release, it's 'Product team shipped X.' Where's your name?
"I don't know if I should specialize or stay generalist"
UX? Product? Interaction? Visual? Research? The job titles keep multiplying. You've done all of it, but job posts want specialists.
If any of this sounds like you — you're not alone, and you're not stuck. We've helped designers land Staff and Lead roles at Meta, Airbnb, and top startups.
Success Stories
People who made the leap
from 147+ professionals
Raymond B.
Senior Software Engineer · Google
"I'd been stuck at L5 for three years. After six weeks with Askia, I had three onsites and closed at L6 with a $350K package. The system design prep alone was worth it—I walked in..."
Sasha L.
Product Engineer · Meta
"Before Askia, I was getting ghosted after every phone screen. We rewrote my resume to lead with impact, and within two weeks I had five recruiter calls scheduled. The difference..."
Neil R.
Software Engineer · Amazon
"I was ready to accept their first offer—I had no idea how to negotiate without seeming greedy. We mapped out my leverage, practiced the exact script, and I ended up $45K higher..."
Alina K.
Senior Product Manager · Microsoft
"My background was all over the place—B2B, B2C, different industries. Askia helped me find the throughline that made it all make sense. Three interviewers said I was the most..."
Jordan T.
Data Scientist · Netflix
"I had five years of scattered projects and no clear story. After one session, we turned it into a narrative about driving decisions with data. The feedback in interviews went from..."
Priya S.
Product Designer · Apple
"The portfolio review was honest—almost too honest. But we cut three projects and rebuilt my walkthrough from scratch. When I presented it, the hiring manager said it was the..."
Miguel A.
Staff Engineer · Stripe
"I was applying to 40+ jobs a week with maybe one callback. We stopped the spray-and-pray approach, built an outreach system, and within a month I had warm intros to three of my..."
Tara J.
Growth PM · Airbnb
"My response rate went from 8% to 22% after repositioning my LinkedIn headline and summary. Same experience, totally different framing. Recruiters started reaching out for roles I..."
Kevin D.
Frontend Engineer · Shopify
"Four months of silence on LinkedIn. Then we overhauled my profile and resume together—within a week I had my first inbound message from a recruiter at a company I'd been eyeing...."
Rina M.
Solutions Architect · Salesforce
"I kept getting rejected for leadership roles because I sounded too technical. Askia helped me reframe everything around strategic impact. The hiring manager later told me my..."
Evan P.
Design Manager · Adobe
"I'd ramble for five minutes on every behavioral question. After three mock sessions, I had tight two-minute stories with clear structure. The interviewers started nodding along..."
Camila V.
Product Analyst · Uber
"I was offered a lateral move initially. After we built my case for promotion—concrete metrics, leadership examples, market data—I countered and got the senior title with a $38K..."
Omar H.
Platform Engineer · Spotify
"Cold outreach was getting me nowhere—maybe one reply for every 50 messages. Askia gave me a template that actually worked. Three weeks later, I had coffee chats with engineers at..."
Lena Q.
Product Designer · Figma
"I'd failed three final rounds in a row and was starting to think something was fundamentally wrong with me. After six mock interviews with Askia, I understood exactly where I was..."
Miles S.
Backend Engineer · Notion
"I was burning out applying to everything. Askia helped me build a system—targeted companies, warm outreach, weekly check-ins. It felt sustainable for the first time. Landed an..."
Isabelle C.
Engineering Manager · Atlassian
"Transitioning from IC to manager felt impossible—I kept getting passed over. Askia helped me articulate my leadership impact in a way that made sense to hiring committees. Within..."
Noah G.
Developer Advocate · GitHub
"My answers were all over the place—five minutes on something that needed thirty seconds. Askia gave me a framework: setup, action, result, reflection. Now every story has punch...."
Hannah W.
Customer Success Lead · Slack
"I was interviewing at six companies simultaneously and losing track of everything. Askia helped me prioritize, prep smarter, and close the one I actually wanted. Turned three..."
Diego R.
Security Engineer · Zoom
"I'd never negotiated before and was terrified of losing the offer. We role-played the conversation three times until I felt bulletproof. Asked for $35K more than they offered. They..."
Maya N.
Technical Program Manager · Oracle
"The resume rewrite made me realize I'd been underselling myself for years. We quantified everything—scope, team size, business impact. Recruiters started reaching out for roles I'd..."
Vikram P.
Machine Learning Engineer · NVIDIA
"I kept getting stuck explaining technical details instead of business outcomes. Askia taught me to lead with the 'so what'—revenue impact, time saved, decisions enabled. The shift..."
Lauren D.
Product Manager · LinkedIn
"I was getting callbacks but bombing final rounds. Turns out I was answering questions like an IC, not a PM. After three sessions focused on strategic framing, I went 3-for-3 on..."
Arjun S.
Backend Engineer · Snowflake
"System design interviews terrified me. Askia broke it down into a repeatable framework—requirements, estimation, architecture, trade-offs. Practiced it until it felt natural...."
Chloe H.
Data Analyst · Pinterest
"Everyone kept telling me I needed more experience to break into tech. Askia showed me how to position my non-tech background as an asset—different perspectives, fresh thinking. Got..."
Marcus J.
DevOps Engineer · Databricks
"My resume was a wall of tools and technologies. Askia helped me rewrite it around reliability outcomes—uptime improved, incidents reduced, deployments accelerated. Started getting..."
Sofia R.
Mobile Engineer · DoorDash
"I'd wing it in behavioral interviews and hope for the best. Askia made me build a story bank—eight polished examples I could adapt to any question. Now I walk in knowing exactly..."
Amir K.
Product Designer · Dropbox
"My portfolio was a random collection of projects. Askia helped me curate it around a clear theme—systems thinking and user advocacy. The hiring manager said it was the most..."
Grace T.
Analytics Lead · Intuit
"I was great at SQL but terrible at explaining why my analysis mattered. Askia taught me to frame everything as business decisions enabled. Now I lead with impact, and executives..."
Diego M.
FinTech Engineer · PayPal
"I had no idea what I was worth. Askia pulled comp data, helped me set a target, and coached me through the conversation. Ended up $40K above my initial expectation with better..."
Riya V.
Growth Engineer · Coinbase
"I was applying everywhere and getting nowhere. Askia made me pick 15 target companies, research them properly, and tailor my approach. Closed two offers from that list within six..."
Raymond B.
Senior Software Engineer · Google
"I'd been stuck at L5 for three years. After six weeks with Askia, I had three onsites and closed at L6 with a $350K package. The system design prep alone was worth it—I walked in..."
Sasha L.
Product Engineer · Meta
"Before Askia, I was getting ghosted after every phone screen. We rewrote my resume to lead with impact, and within two weeks I had five recruiter calls scheduled. The difference..."
Neil R.
Software Engineer · Amazon
"I was ready to accept their first offer—I had no idea how to negotiate without seeming greedy. We mapped out my leverage, practiced the exact script, and I ended up $45K higher..."
Alina K.
Senior Product Manager · Microsoft
"My background was all over the place—B2B, B2C, different industries. Askia helped me find the throughline that made it all make sense. Three interviewers said I was the most..."
Jordan T.
Data Scientist · Netflix
"I had five years of scattered projects and no clear story. After one session, we turned it into a narrative about driving decisions with data. The feedback in interviews went from..."
Priya S.
Product Designer · Apple
"The portfolio review was honest—almost too honest. But we cut three projects and rebuilt my walkthrough from scratch. When I presented it, the hiring manager said it was the..."
Miguel A.
Staff Engineer · Stripe
"I was applying to 40+ jobs a week with maybe one callback. We stopped the spray-and-pray approach, built an outreach system, and within a month I had warm intros to three of my..."
Tara J.
Growth PM · Airbnb
"My response rate went from 8% to 22% after repositioning my LinkedIn headline and summary. Same experience, totally different framing. Recruiters started reaching out for roles I..."
Kevin D.
Frontend Engineer · Shopify
"Four months of silence on LinkedIn. Then we overhauled my profile and resume together—within a week I had my first inbound message from a recruiter at a company I'd been eyeing...."
Rina M.
Solutions Architect · Salesforce
"I kept getting rejected for leadership roles because I sounded too technical. Askia helped me reframe everything around strategic impact. The hiring manager later told me my..."
Evan P.
Design Manager · Adobe
"I'd ramble for five minutes on every behavioral question. After three mock sessions, I had tight two-minute stories with clear structure. The interviewers started nodding along..."
Camila V.
Product Analyst · Uber
"I was offered a lateral move initially. After we built my case for promotion—concrete metrics, leadership examples, market data—I countered and got the senior title with a $38K..."
Omar H.
Platform Engineer · Spotify
"Cold outreach was getting me nowhere—maybe one reply for every 50 messages. Askia gave me a template that actually worked. Three weeks later, I had coffee chats with engineers at..."
Lena Q.
Product Designer · Figma
"I'd failed three final rounds in a row and was starting to think something was fundamentally wrong with me. After six mock interviews with Askia, I understood exactly where I was..."
Miles S.
Backend Engineer · Notion
"I was burning out applying to everything. Askia helped me build a system—targeted companies, warm outreach, weekly check-ins. It felt sustainable for the first time. Landed an..."
Isabelle C.
Engineering Manager · Atlassian
"Transitioning from IC to manager felt impossible—I kept getting passed over. Askia helped me articulate my leadership impact in a way that made sense to hiring committees. Within..."
Noah G.
Developer Advocate · GitHub
"My answers were all over the place—five minutes on something that needed thirty seconds. Askia gave me a framework: setup, action, result, reflection. Now every story has punch...."
Hannah W.
Customer Success Lead · Slack
"I was interviewing at six companies simultaneously and losing track of everything. Askia helped me prioritize, prep smarter, and close the one I actually wanted. Turned three..."
Diego R.
Security Engineer · Zoom
"I'd never negotiated before and was terrified of losing the offer. We role-played the conversation three times until I felt bulletproof. Asked for $35K more than they offered. They..."
Maya N.
Technical Program Manager · Oracle
"The resume rewrite made me realize I'd been underselling myself for years. We quantified everything—scope, team size, business impact. Recruiters started reaching out for roles I'd..."
Vikram P.
Machine Learning Engineer · NVIDIA
"I kept getting stuck explaining technical details instead of business outcomes. Askia taught me to lead with the 'so what'—revenue impact, time saved, decisions enabled. The shift..."
Lauren D.
Product Manager · LinkedIn
"I was getting callbacks but bombing final rounds. Turns out I was answering questions like an IC, not a PM. After three sessions focused on strategic framing, I went 3-for-3 on..."
Arjun S.
Backend Engineer · Snowflake
"System design interviews terrified me. Askia broke it down into a repeatable framework—requirements, estimation, architecture, trade-offs. Practiced it until it felt natural...."
Chloe H.
Data Analyst · Pinterest
"Everyone kept telling me I needed more experience to break into tech. Askia showed me how to position my non-tech background as an asset—different perspectives, fresh thinking. Got..."
Marcus J.
DevOps Engineer · Databricks
"My resume was a wall of tools and technologies. Askia helped me rewrite it around reliability outcomes—uptime improved, incidents reduced, deployments accelerated. Started getting..."
Sofia R.
Mobile Engineer · DoorDash
"I'd wing it in behavioral interviews and hope for the best. Askia made me build a story bank—eight polished examples I could adapt to any question. Now I walk in knowing exactly..."
Amir K.
Product Designer · Dropbox
"My portfolio was a random collection of projects. Askia helped me curate it around a clear theme—systems thinking and user advocacy. The hiring manager said it was the most..."
Grace T.
Analytics Lead · Intuit
"I was great at SQL but terrible at explaining why my analysis mattered. Askia taught me to frame everything as business decisions enabled. Now I lead with impact, and executives..."
Diego M.
FinTech Engineer · PayPal
"I had no idea what I was worth. Askia pulled comp data, helped me set a target, and coached me through the conversation. Ended up $40K above my initial expectation with better..."
Riya V.
Growth Engineer · Coinbase
"I was applying everywhere and getting nowhere. Askia made me pick 15 target companies, research them properly, and tailor my approach. Closed two offers from that list within six..."
Ready to accelerate your career?
Book a free strategy call and leave with a clear action plan.
How It Works
How we get you there
1
Find your impact
We dig through your projects and find where design moved business metrics.
2
Rebuild your portfolio narrative
Stories, not just screens. Process, not just polish.
3
Master the presentation
Design critique prep, case study walkthrough practice, and confidence building.
Deliverables
What you actually get
Design career support.
Impact Discovery
Find the business impact of your design work.
Portfolio Narrative
Rebuild your case studies to tell stories.
Presentation Prep
Design critique and case study presentation readiness.
Your Coach
Steve understands design impact
Design portfolios often focus on process over outcomes. I help product designers connect their work to business metrics — conversion, retention, NPS. Let's build a story that shows you design for impact, not just aesthetics.
35+ designers coached
Staff Design+ level-ups
$45K avg. comp increase
This is for you if
You've shipped real design work and deserve recognition.
- Your portfolio gets views but not callbacks
- Design presentations make you nervous
- You're ready for Senior or Lead roles
- You can't quantify your design impact
This probably isn't for you if
We work with experienced designers.
- You're building foundational design skills
- You want Figma or UI training
- You need portfolio building from scratch
Questions designers usually ask
Honest answers.
How do I quantify design impact when nobody tracked metrics?
Not every company runs A/B tests. We use proxy metrics: user feedback, support tickets reduced, task completion time, NPS changes, or even business outcomes like deal closure rates. You also frame qualitative wins: 'stakeholders approved this design faster than any previous project' is impact.
What makes a portfolio stand out to hiring managers?
Process and impact, not visual polish. Show your constraints, your research, your iterations, and what changed because of your decisions. Beautiful mockups are table stakes. The story of how you solved the problem is what separates senior designers from juniors.
How do I get better at design critiques and presentations?
Practice in low-stakes environments first. We run mock critiques where you present your work and field tough questions. The goal isn't to defend every decision — it's to articulate your thinking and demonstrate how you collaborate under pressure.
How do I show NDA work in my portfolio?
Several options: anonymize the company and specifics, show process without final visuals, create redesigns of public products using the same methodology, or focus on non-NDA projects. We help you build a portfolio that's both compliant and compelling.
Should I specialize (UX, Visual, Research) or stay generalist?
It depends on your target companies. Startups want generalists who can do it all. FAANG has specialized tracks. At senior levels, you typically need deep expertise in one area with breadth across others. We help you position based on your goals.
How do I transition from visual/UI to product/UX design?
You likely already have UX skills — you just frame them as visual skills. We help you reframe: 'designed marketing pages' becomes 'optimized conversion flows through user research and iterative testing.' Same work, different story.
How do I compete against designers from bigger-name companies?
Designers from FAANG had bigger budgets, established design systems, and more support. If you've designed at a smaller company with scrappy resources, that's actually harder. We help you frame resourcefulness as leadership.
What's the difference between Senior and Staff Designer?
Senior owns projects. Staff owns outcomes across projects — design systems, team practices, cross-functional influence. It's less about design quality and more about multiplying team impact. We help you build and demonstrate that scope.
How do I handle whiteboard design challenges?
Whiteboard challenges test process, not perfection. We practice frameworks: clarify constraints, sketch multiple approaches, talk through trade-offs, and pick a direction. Thinking out loud matters more than beautiful drawings.
Is design management the only path to senior compensation?
No. Individual contributor tracks at top companies (Staff, Principal, Distinguished Designer) pay equally to management. The key is demonstrating scope expansion without reports. We help you build the IC leadership narrative.
"Within 3 weeks I had 4 interviews lined up. Steve completely changed how I talk about my work."
★★★★★ — Marcus T., Senior Engineer → Staff at FAANGYour designs shipped to millions. Now let's ship your career.
Designers who tell stories about impact, not just pixels, get the roles. Let's get you there.
Join 147+ professionals who've accelerated their careers
Fix My Portfolio Story
Only 4 spots left this week
✓ Leave with a clear action plan or get a second session free
