Stop 13 · Design Portfolio StrategyTopics · 4/7

Choosing Portfolio Projects

In short

Three similar food-delivery apps tell a recruiter one thing three times. Three different projects show three different skills. Pick for range.

Selecting 3-4 projects that together demonstrate range — different problem types, different platforms, different stages of the design process — rather than several similar projects.

The jaadu, as captain, chooses from players holding a bat, a ball and keeping gloves.

Think of it like this

Picking the playing eleven

No captain picks eleven opening batters. You need bowlers, a keeper and an all-rounder or two. Each player covers a different job. Your portfolio is your eleven: each project should cover a skill the others don't.

Watch it happen

Covering range with 3 to 4 projects

Your 3-4 picks

Platform

Problem type

Main skill

Mobile app

Website

Redesign

New product

Research-heavy

1/5Start by listing every project you could show, then check what range they cover.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Range over volume

Different platforms, problems and skills matter more than a high project count.

Lead with your best

Put the strongest, most complete case study first. Many reviewers won't go past it.

Match your goal

Want fintech? Include something with forms, trust and money. Pick projects that point where you're heading.

Retire old work

As you improve, swap out weaker early projects. A portfolio is never finished.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Showing only tutorial or course projects everyone else also has.

Do this instead

Pick a real problem you or people around you face. Unique problems make you memorable.

Oops

Keeping a weak project because you spent a long time on it.

Do this instead

Effort isn't the test. If it doesn't show a skill well, cut it or rework it.

Your mission

Map your range

~20 min

Quick check

You have four projects: three restaurant apps and one website redesign. What's the best move?

Go deeper

1Audit your practice work from this roadmap and identify which projects show genuinely different skills.
2Aim for range: at least one research-heavy project, one visual-design-heavy project, one system-level project.
3Learn to retire a weaker project rather than padding your portfolio with quantity over quality.