"I'm a UX designer" isn't enough anymore

I was working with a designer recently on her portfolio homepage.

Her intro read: "I'm a UX designer."

That was it. Clean. Simple. And completely forgettable.

Yes, she was a UX designer but her intro told a hiring manager almost nothing. It described a job title, not a person. It said what she was, not what she brought to the table.

We rewrote it together using a simple framework. Four elements, two sentences.

The difference was obvious. A hiring manager landing on her homepage could now answer the question they're always asking in the first ten seconds: why should I keep reading?

The framework

Most designers introduce themselves the same way:

"I'm a UX designer with five years of experience."

It's accurate. It's also what every other designer on the page says.

Here's a more useful structure:

Who you are + what you solve + for whom + your approach or proof

Applied to the same designer:

"I'm a UX designer who helps fintech companies simplify complex user flows. I focus on the gap between what users expect and what the product delivers and I've helped three startups reduce onboarding drop-off by an average of 35%."

Same person with the same experience with a completely different impression.

The hiring manager now knows: what type of designer she is, what kind of problems she solves, who she solves them for, and what her work actually produces.

That's four questions answered in two sentences. That's why it works.

How to apply it to your own intro

Answer these four questions about yourself. Write them down before you try to polish anything:

1. Who are you as a designer? Are you a systems thinker? A researcher who designs? A product designer who leans into strategy? Be specific about what kind of designer you actually are.

2. What do you solve? Avoid statements like "I design interfaces." What problem do you repeatedly show up to fix? Confusing onboarding? Disconnected information architecture? Products that work technically but fail users emotionally? Name the problem.

3. For whom? Industry, company size, user type whatever is the most relevant to the roles you're pursuing. "B2B SaaS companies" or "healthcare products for non-technical users" is more useful than nothing.

4. What's your proof or approach? One specific result, one metric, one way of working that sets you apart. If you have a number use it. If you don't, describe your approach in one concrete sentence.

Put those four answers together and you have a strong intro.

Say this, not that

Here's the framework applied across three common situations:

Portfolio homepage

Instead of: "I'm a product designer based in New York."

Try: "I'm a product designer who helps early-stage startups build their first design systems. I've worked across healthcare, fintech, and edtech and I care most about the moment a product finally starts to feel inevitable."

LinkedIn headline

Instead of: "UX Designer | Figma | Design Thinking"

Try: "UX Designer helping mid-market SaaS companies reduce churn through clearer user flows."

Case study role statement

Instead of: "I worked on the redesign of the onboarding experience."

Try: "I was the sole designer on this project, responsible for end-to-end UX from research through handoff. My focus was reducing the drop-off rate at step three which is where we were losing 60% of new users."

The one thing to do this week

Open your portfolio homepage and read your intro out loud.

Ask yourself: if a hiring manager read only this line and nothing else, would they know what kind of designer I am, what I solve, and why I'm worth their time?

If the answer is no make sure to rewrite it using the four-part framework before your next application.

You don't need a new portfolio. You need a clearer introduction to the one you already have.

This framework is just the starting point. The Mid-Level Case Study Playbook has a full Say This Not That appendix with before and after examples for role statements, decisions, and outcomes plus five chapters on the most common mistakes I see in mid-level portfolios and exactly how to fix them.

→ Get the Mid-Level Case Study Playbook — $39 (PDF guide and Notion workspace) "My callback rate doubled after Anthony's audit."

Talk soon, Anthony

P.S. If you want direct feedback on whether your specific portfolio intro and case studies are landing that's exactly what a Portfolio Review is for. I'll record a 20-minute video audit and show you what's working, what's not, and what to fix first. $95.