NDAs don’t let people talk openly nor include designs in their portfolios. Even enterprise conference talks are scrubbed of any meaningful insights. Anytime you see a designer talking about their work publicly it’s because their org is leveraging that for an outcome.

Not being able to include designs in portfolios is a huge problem that needs to be discussed since portfolios have become the most important thing in the hiring process of designers.

Well technically the work you do is the property of the organisation you are working for. We should ideally move away from judging designers based on their portfolios.

Yes, technically. But that's the number one thing designers are judged on now so not being able to show work is kinda a problem. What do you suggest using instead?

The design interview process needs to adapt based on which role you are trying to fill. Early on, I want to see if you know how to use tools, then its if you can work with people and finally if you can manage projects.

I honestly feel the individual fitting into the team is far more important than the skills they bring. I’m currently calling it “Hiring by Vibes” 😅

Agree with you and that's what I look at the most when hiring. It's extremely subjective though and companies are all about data points now and trying to make the process as objective as possible. At least that's the lip service.

Only good hiring managers can bring the change in the industry and unfortunately they are scarce

The industry follows whatever FAANG companies do and those are obsessed with data and metrics. The entire process feels totally robotic now and they think it's a good thing. Used to be very different.

One reason is it's just not as "sexy" as consumer design which is arguably held up as the pinnacle of design/what we should be aspiring to.. which probably contradicts the whole "design can save the world" thing if we're not solving problems at the corporate level lol

That's exactly what it is. Designers will rather design yet another pretty tasks, weather or social media app than work on complex stuff that solves complex problems.

Aside from the visual aspect it's just harder to work on enterprise apps due to inherent complexity, a massive learning curve about a new industry and lack of good references (usually behind a paywall).

I'm working on a consumer app after being primarily on the enterprise side and just having access to users is.. a big gamechanger lol Designing for people who choose to use something rather than be mandated to use something can be a challenge, though

Yes, there are different challenges but I still think enterprise is way more difficult and not for everyone. Consumer has huge advantages. Plenty of references, access to real users, way less complexity. In most cases you understand right away what the app is supposed to do.

Also curious how you went from enterprise to consumer. Usually, consumer companies don't seem to have much of an appreciation for seeing enterprise apps in your portfolio.

I basically argued my way in which.. I was honestly surprised when it worked out lol I could tell there was doubts from the team but one argument was simply "if you don't give me this chance, who is going to/we all have to start somewhere" so.. I guess they agreed

Wow, glad it worked out for you. I've heard it's really hard to switch from enterprise to consumer. Companies look for the type of design they want to see in their app.

Literally my life story as a designer