When I blew my UX Pitch

I recently participated in an ADP List session where I presented my case study to a mentor. Typically, these sessions go as expected—most mentors give similar feedback: make it more visual, provide an overview, add photos, enhance the storytelling. However, this session was different.

The mentor asked me a question that caught me off guard: "What roles are you targeting?"

Up until that point, I hadn’t thought much about the specific roles I was applying for. I applied to any job with “UX” in the title—Product Designer, UX Designer, UI Designer, UX/UI Designer. I just knew I wanted a UX-related role. But this question made me pause and reflect. What kind of work do I really want to do in a company? Do I want to work closely with users and build experiences that focus on UX? Or do I want to think more holistically about feasibility, resources, and revenue—essentially taking a product design approach?

Interestingly, my case study was heavily product design-focused—it discussed the business model, implementation strategy, sensors, and backend components. But ironically, in the actual project, we spent more time on user experience flows and features rather than the business aspects. While the business model was relevant, it was just one part of the project. Yet somehow, I had gotten carried away and made the entire case study revolve around that, rather than showcasing how I impacted the user experience.

This conversation was an eye-opener. I realized that I need to improve how I present my design work. I did the work, but I failed to demonstrate the depth of my contribution. I might have missed out on many opportunities because of this. But no worries—it’s a lesson learned! I now understand that communicating my design process is just as important as doing the design work itself. If I can’t explain my work effectively, no one else will understand its impact.

By the way, I rewrote that case study—here’s the link:

Case Study for Zentra