Hi there! 👋
If you’re reading this, you might be totally new to the world of UX, currently trying to break in and find your footing, or earlier in your career. We wrote this FAQ for folks like yourself! We get a lot of questions from new UXers and from those who are looking to chat whenever we are hiring, but we don’t always have time to hop on a call and answer them. This FAQ addresses the most common questions we get from new (and less new) folks in the industry.
Is there a question missing here? Drop us a note at deardanielledave@gmail.com, and we’ll email you if we add an answer!
Can I talk to you directly instead?
We wish we had time to grab coffee (virtual or IRL) with everyone that reaches out to us, but we don’t, especially in our efforts to have a strong work/life balance. We built this document as a way to protect our time while still answering your questions.
As noted above, if a question is missing, you can submit it to us, and if we find that the best way to answer that question is by having a coffee, we’ll reach out to you accordingly!
Breaking into UX
How do I get my first role in UX?
It’s important to start out by saying that everyone’s journey into UX is different — your path won’t look exactly like ours or anyone else’s, and that’s a great thing! There is lots of room for you to forge your own unique path into this industry.
Here’s a brief history of how we got into UX:
Danielle: I got my first formal role in UX working in a tiny startup (less than 6 employees) while I was doing the Master’s of Information program at University of Toronto. I was able to get an internship as a UX Designer there which was a great learning experience. The start-up was associated with the university and I knew the founder through my courses, which helped me get my foot in the door. Before that, I also started building my portfolio via my course work, creating UX case studies out of some of my previous work experience, and volunteering* at Civic Tech Toronto. Towards the end of my Master’s degree, I got a contract role as a UX Designer at Freshbooks, which I was able to convert to a full-time role after 6 months.
Dave: I didn’t get into what many consider traditional UX until much later in my career. I started working in more traditional market research as a research analyst at AC Nielsen coming out of my MBA, then moved over to General Mills leading consumer insights work on some household name brands. Both were great learning experiences in their own right - Nielsen as a consulting agency helped me hone client management skills and gave me solid foundational quant research and analytical chops. My time at General Mills taught me how to manage a large research budget and manage research vendors. My first exposure to “true” UX is when I started working for Flipp. There I stood up the UX research team, also ended up leading PM, CX and Product Analytics for a spell towards the end of my tenure there.
*Volunteer projects does not mean working for for-profit start-ups for free; this means working with interdisciplinary teams such as at Civic Tech Toronto on projects focused on causes you believe in, where everyone is volunteering, and you can build meaningful relationships through the collaboration.
It’s really not easy to find that first role. It will take time, sometimes lots of time. We empathize with anyone looking to break in — we know it’s really difficult. Oftentimes these things come down to luck and circumstance.
Now we absolutely recognize telling someone to “bank on luck” isn’t exactly the most actionable advice. What you can do though is to maximize your luck by trying the following:
Build your network: This does not mean reaching out to people you don’t know on LinkedIn or by email; but instead trying to build meaningful relationships with people in the industry. E.g. through coursework, mentorship programs, volunteer projects*, meet-ups, etc.
Find a mentor: Finding a senior designer or UXR who has been in the industry for a number of years can go a long way. They can be a source of great advice, information and inspiration, can provide interview tips and be someone to check in with regularly when you get stuck.
Build your skills/knowledge: Learn from others, leverage resources online, read articles, take free courses, etc.! Get the foundations down so you’re set up to start applying them.
Volunteer / do pro-bono work: when you are just starting out and have little to no professional experience, volunteering your skills to do some pro-bono work for your local barber shop, restaurant or make a website for someone in your network can be a great way to hone your skills, get feedback and build your portfolio and reputation!
Build your portfolio: Start to practice your UX chops by building a portfolio based on projects from courses, previous work, volunteer projects, etc. This will help you practice and give you something to get some feedback on. It’s now easier than ever to create great looking portfolios with the help of vibe-coding tools!
A note on portfolios for UXRs: it’s less common for UXRs to have portfolios compared to designers, but it’s not unheard of and we’ve seen some great UXR portfolios. It really does help you stand out if you can put together something that’s thoughtful.
Think about places that need a new UXer, and focus on finding those roles: This may mean that your dream company isn’t the place where you start out. Places that need new UXers might be…
Really big, e.g. banks, enterprise software, government: These may be places with really large UX teams with many senior or lead level UXers keen for the opportunity to mentor new UXers as they level up their management skills.
Really small, e.g. teeny tiny startups, non-profits, small businesses with no UX: These may be places that otherwise wouldn’t be able to hire a UX person, who can give you a ton of autonomy to learn, grow and develop your own processes.
….or, transition from another role: Or, consider a role (perhaps your current role) in a company that has a UX team, or that doesn’t have one yet (until you came along!), where you can aim to transition internally. This career path happens a lot more than you think! It takes time but you will learn a ton along the way.
Weigh experience over pay*: Not every job is going to pay great. In fact, most junior roles don’t, especially in today’s market. So don’t put too much weight on the salary. Instead, weigh towards the experience you are going to gain, the type of company & team you’ll get to be on, and the type of projects you’ll get to work on. Those experiences will pay dividends down the road, and you’ll get your chance for a bigger paycheque.
*Not everyone is in a position to do this; as with everything in this list, disregard if its not right for you. There’s no single path or thing to do to get your first role.
Alongside all of the above: be patient/kind to yourself in the process: This is hard. Show yourself lots of self-care and compassion through this process! And remember you are not alone. Connect with peers, classmates or colleagues looking alongside you and learn from each other alongside supporting each other - it makes a world of difference.
Do I need to get a degree in order to break into UX?
Nope! There are so many paths to a role in UX. A lot of people don’t come into the industry with a “traditional” UX education; there are so many other types of education or experience that are relevant. If you think you might want a degree, see the answer above. If that doesn’t seem right for you, research other peoples’ paths into UX for inspiration, and forge your own!
As hiring managers, we generally place more emphasis on real world, practical experience over education. Not to say education isn’t important, but you can only get so far with classroom theory. Even if you end up pursuing some sort of UX degree or education, it’s still good to try to get some hands-on experience (see answer re: volunteer and pro-bono work).
What are salaries like in UX?
Really varied, and it depends a lot on context, location, experience, and more.
User Interviews publishes a UX Salary Report every year. It’s a solid point of reference and should give you a good general sense for what averages look like in the industry. If you want specifics, or hone in on particular roles or companies, talk to different people, and in particular, look to build relationships with people at a similar level to you or one level above (e.g. if you are breaking in, reach out to some Junior Researchers/Designers) who you can talk with candidly about salaries so you can build your baseline.
Is 1Password hiring?
If we are at the moment, it will be listed here: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1password
For Danielle: Do you recommend the University of Toronto iSchool User Experience Design program?
I (Danielle) had a really great experience at the iSchool, and that experience was definitely a big boon for me as I got started in the industry. So generally I recommend it, but it’s not for everyone — and again, everyone has a different path into UX! Doing a master’s degree is by no means a prerequisite. Also keep in mind: the program has changed significantly since I graduated. Reach out to a more recent graduate to get an idea of what its like now.
So, is it right for you? Only you can figure that out! But based on my experience, I think it’s particularly good if:
You enjoy learning in an academic university setting. This may seem obvious but I really enjoyed my undergraduate university experience, so going back for a Master’s degree was a good fit for me. There were still essays, late nights studying, dense readings, and lots of time spent on theory rather than practice — all that fun stuff. If you don’t find that stuff fun and are looking for a more purely practical learning experience, this program may not be your best option.
You have an idea of what you want to get out of the program. Again, maybe seems obvious! But if you just generally want to build UX skills, there are a lot of ways to do that besides doing a costly (both in terms of time/expenses) university degree. This program works particularly well if you go into it intentionally aiming, for example, to do research in a particular area of interest, or to gain practical experience while studying in an academic setting.
For myself, going into the iSchool, I knew I wanted to get practical experience to put on my resume, so it was important to me to secure a summer internship, and to do the Capstone course in my second year where I could embed and do a project in an organisation.
Ultimately, with any learning opportunity, you get out of it what you put in! So just doing a program to get a job at the end of it, while an extremely reasonable and fair goal and likely ultimately everyone’s ideal end state in pursuing an education of any kind, is making a big investment towards an end that’s not guaranteed.
So while that may be the end goal, when considering doing UX education, focus on evaluating the program for yourself as an individual. You can come up with criteria that make sense for you — for example:
Teaching style: the kind of teaching you’ll receive from the program and whether that’s compatible with the way you like to learn
Practical opportunities: the opportunities to gain industry experience (e.g. capstone courses, internships, practicums, etc.) and how they align to what you’re looking for
Expertise: the people teaching and whether they’re people you’d want to learn from
…and more! Use AI!
Portfolios & Interviews
What do hiring managers look for when evaluating portfolios?
Every hiring manager evaluates portfolios a bit differently, but here’s a general framework for the kinds of things we tend to look at. Think of these less as a checklist and more as lenses we’re looking through as we review your work. Keep in mind too that the degree to which we expect you to demonstrate these skills based on the level of job you are applying for.
1. Craft - How strong is the design execution?
This is the one people tend to think about first, and for good reason — it’s often the first thing we notice. We’re looking at your visual design, interaction design, and overall polish. Does the work demonstrate a strong sense of hierarchy? Are the flows usable and well-considered? Have you thought through different states and edge cases? Ultimately, does the work feel thoughtful and well-made? Craft signals that you care about the details, and that you have the skills to follow through on your ideas.
2. Product Thinking - How well do you understand the problem and shape the right solution?
Great-looking work only gets you so far — we also want to see how you think. How did you frame the problem? What tradeoffs did you navigate, and why did you make the decisions you made? Can you clearly connect user needs to product outcomes? Did you celebrate the right metric, or did you optimize for something that looks good on paper but doesn’t actually move the needle for users? This is where we get a sense of your judgment, and judgment is one of the hardest things to teach.
3. Journey & Systems Thinking - Can you think beyond a single screen?
A single screen can look beautiful, but users don’t experience products one screen at a time. We’re looking at whether you can design coherent experiences across steps, states, and connected parts of a product. Do you understand user journeys and information architecture? Can you zoom out and consider how your piece fits into the broader system? This is especially important as you grow in your career — the ability to think in systems is what separates good designers from great ones.
4. Agentic Building - Can you move work forward through prototyping, building, and iteration?
This is an increasingly important one. We want to see that you can actively use prototypes, AI tools, code, or whatever else is at your disposal to explore ideas, test them, and create momentum. It’s less about which specific tools you use and more about the mindset — are you someone who builds to learn, or do you wait for permission to move forward? Showing that you can get scrappy and make things real, even rough versions, goes a long way.
5. Storytelling - Can you bring it all together?
This is the thread that ties everything else together. A portfolio isn’t just a collection of work — it’s a narrative. We’re looking at whether you can present your process and outcomes in a way that’s compelling, clear, and engaging. Can you walk us through your thinking in a way that makes sense? Do we come away understanding not just what you did, but why it mattered? Strong storytelling shows that you can communicate your work effectively, which is a skill you’ll use every single day on the job.
How do I build a portfolio for UX/UX Research when I’m just breaking in and don’t have any formal work experience yet?
It’s totally okay if the projects on your initial portfolio aren’t from paid work — honestly, we expect that when we’re reviewing portfolios from people just starting out. What we’re looking for is evidence that you can think through a problem and apply the UX process, regardless of where that work happened. So get creative with it!
A few ideas for where to pull from: school projects are a natural starting point, especially if you can frame them as proper case studies rather than just assignments. If you’re currently working in a non-UX role, try applying the UX process to something at your job — maybe there’s an internal tool that’s painful to use, or a customer-facing flow that could be better. Volunteering experiences and meet-ups are another great source of real, collaborative project work. And don’t underestimate personal projects — pick something you’re genuinely interested in or a problem you’ve personally experienced, and work through it. Some of the most memorable portfolio pieces we’ve seen have come from someone scratching their own itch.
The key with all of these is to show your process, not just the final output. Walk us through how you identified the problem, what you did to understand it, the decisions you made along the way, and what you learned. That’s what makes a portfolio compelling, not whether the project came from a Fortune 500 company.
When in doubt, Google around for portfolio inspiration from other UXers — there’s a ton of great examples out there to learn from.
What differentiates a UX Design portfolio from a UX Research portfolio?
There are lots of ways to incorporate both skills into your portfolio, but the basic difference is that a design portfolio will focus on the design process, thinking and output in the presentation of projects, whereas a research portfolio will focus on the research process, thinking and research impact on the product.
True, they’re often really similar processes, ideally happening at once! But it’s about where you focus the narrative.
In a UX Design portfolio, you might show a problem statement, describe your design process, some findings from evaluative research, and showcase your designs with a focus on iterations in the process resulting from user insights.
In a research portfolio, you might show something really similar, but you may focus more on your research planning, recruitment, synthesis process, how you shared the insight, and how the insights influenced product decisions.
Both stories are similar — it’s more about the emphasis! A design portfolio might more so emphasize design iterations based on insights, whereas a research portfolio might more so emphasize communication of the research insights.
No silver bullet solution, lots of different ways to do this (the theme of this doc)!
What format should my portfolio be in?
Do what’s best for you. What will be simplest to update over time and iterate upon? Will you rely more on copy to tell your story, or images?
Build it yourself, use a template, use Figma, use Google Slides, use Notion… do what makes sense for you! It’s more about the content, storytelling and polish than the format you choose. We have hired candidates with all kinds of portfolio formats.
That said, the most common format and medium we see are personal websites (that include both work and a little about themselves) and Figma (again, people often include a bit of personal side there). There’s a lot of upside to a personal website, so if pressed to give a recommendation, that’s where we’d land. It’s a great way to showcase your work and its impact, gives you a natural reason to reflect regularly, and a place to iterate and update over time. A website also affords you the opportunity to demonstrate your AI skillset highly tangibly.
Also, please don’t password protect your website or otherwise. It’s a point of friction for the hiring team. Unless you worked on some state secrets (which you probably shouldn’t include on a website anyway), there’s no good reason to gate your portfolio.
What can I do to make my portfolio stand out? What are elements of a great portfolio?
Whatever your UX discipline, here are some tips:
Strong communication/storytelling: Be really clear and concise. No matter your focus in UX, communication is a core skill of your role. Being able to tell the story of your work and who you are will always make you stand out.
Edit, edit, edit! Do you need every screen from that prototype? Always ask yourself: what can I take out to tell my story more clearly, for someone who has 1 minute to read this?
Visual polish: Passing that 5 second test where everything looks polished and clean will help you stand out. This doesn’t mean your portfolio design has to be wildly innovative, though that’s great if it’s your thing — just that it needs to be simple and consistent, just like the kind of design work you’ll be working on as a UXer.
Usability/accessibility: Similarly, the portfolio should be usable and accessible itself. This will be core to your work, so make sure your portfolio reflects it.
Bring yourself to it: Show us who you are and what makes you awesome. You’re so much more than your credentials. Bring some of that you to your portfolio.
What tools do I need to know how to use? How important is it to know how to use AI tools?
Let’s break this down by discipline.
For Designers: Figma is a must-have. It’s the industry standard and you should be comfortable working in it. Beyond that, the tooling landscape is shifting fast — designers are increasingly becoming builders, not just people who hand off mockups. Getting proficient with vibe-coding tools like Cursor and Claude Code is becoming a real differentiator. You don’t need to be a software engineer, but being someone who can prototype with code, build functional things, and move work forward without waiting for a developer? That’s increasingly valuable.
For UX Researchers: It’s good to know your way around tools like UserTesting, Dovetail, Maze, Qualtrics, and similar platforms — but honestly, none of them are that hard to pick up if you haven’t used them before. What’s becoming more important is knowing how to work with AI. The frontier models — Claude, GPT, Gemini — are becoming part of the research toolkit. Knowing how to prompt effectively is table stakes at this point. Beyond that, learn how to work these tools into your research process: using them to help with synthesis, summarization, and analysis. But equally important is knowing how to spot when the output isn’t quite right. AI can get you 80% of the way there fast, but that last 20% — the judgment call on whether something is actually accurate and meaningful — is still very much your job.
For everyone: The tools will keep changing. What matters most is building a mindset of curiosity and adaptability around new tools rather than chasing mastery of any one specific platform. The best UXers we’ve worked with aren’t necessarily the ones who know the most tools — they’re the ones who pick up new ones quickly and figure out how to make them useful.