187: UX Portfolio Myth: You don't need 3 - 5 projects in your UX portfolio (Myth 1 / 5)

UX portfolio advice is full of numbers that sound official but aren't backed by anything. This episode kicks off a five part series on UX portfolio myths, starting with the most common one: that you need three to five projects before you can apply.

Sarah says the opposite is true. One strong, detailed project beats five surface level ones every time. She backs this up from an interview she did with Alexander Zeh, former Head of Product Design at ManyChat, who said he'd rather see one or two case studies that map directly to the job description than five that walk through every step of the design process without any real depth.

The episode shares two specific examples. Laura got hired as a Principal Product Designer in cybersecurity with a single, unfinished feeling project still sitting in Figma slides, and was actually found and reached out to on LinkedIn before she even applied. Leon, laid off after 11 years at the same company and an author of a book on wire-framing, got hired after focusing on just one project instead of trying to rebuild an entire portfolio from scratch.

If you've been stalling on applying because you don't have "enough" projects yet, this episode is a direct challenge to that belief, and a reason to ask where that number actually came from in the first place.

Topics Discussed

✅ Why the three to five project rule is a myth with no real backing, and where it likely came from

✅ Why one detailed project beats five surface level ones, and what "confuse and lose" means for a UX portfolio

✅ What a former Head of Product Design at ManyChat said he actually wants to see in a portfolio

✅ How Laura got hired as a Principal Product Designer with one unfinished project, and was found on LinkedIn without ever applying

✅ How Leon got hired after being laid off from an 11 year role, focusing on just one project instead of rebuilding his whole portfolio

✅ Why working on your portfolio alone can make you more critical of it than recruiters and hiring managers actually are

✅ The question to ask yourself if you believe you need three to five projects, and where to trace that belief back to

✅ What Sarah says to look for in UX job descriptions instead of following a generic project count

Links & Resources

🔗 Episode 172 of the Career Strategy Podcast, the full interview with Alexander Zeh, former Head of Product Design at ManyChat

🔗 Laura's episode, sharing in her own words how she got hired with one project in her portfolio

🔗 Leon's book on wireframing for UX

🎯 How I can help with your UX job search

📋 Get my UX case study template

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