Christopher Nguyen

UX Playbook

UX education is broken, why?

🤑 Bootcamps are extortion
😵‍💫 Over emphasis on Figma
🫠 No real world preparation
😫 No career focus just skills
🫨 Getting started is confusing
🤥 Theory taught isn’t practical

That's why I created UX Playbook.

At UX Playbook, I help frustrated designers figure out how to take control of their education, make better decisions, and ultimately build the career they want. 

Over 17,000 designers, from 90 countries, are using my playbooks to better their career.

300+ five star reviews.

Learn more: www.uxplaybook.org

Founder

The Design of Everyday People Livestream

Livestream AMAs, where I speak to design experts, from all over the world.

Livestream Host

Play of the Week Newsletter

Get UX mentorship in your inbox. 2-minute read. Every Wednesday. Absolutely free.

Writer

Backlog

Antler

Entrepreneur in Residence

Playstack

Co-Founder

Divvy Notion

CoiBoi

BAEMIN Vietnam (Woowa Bros.)

Designing thinking training with Baemin's leadership teams

Design Thinking Trainer

MoMo (M_Service)

Facilitating Design Sprints for multiple product teams inside MoMo for their B2C and B2B2C products

Design Sprint Facilitator

I help UX designers go from Fuzziness to Focused (uxplaybook.org), now Freedom (backlog.design)

I went from 0 experience to Head of Design in 4 years.

Then, in 2020, I quit.

Leaving the high-paying salary and status of working at a FinTech unicorn behind.

The job I once dreamed of wasn't align with my values.

But, I wasn't ready to give up on UX.

I intrinsically want to help other designers succeed. 

Working with 100s of designers, I realised that most designers are in someway self taught, but why? 

Because most UX education is incredibly expensive, lack accessibility, and real-world practicality.

I had a hypothesis.

Designers craved for education that 1) cuts to the core, 2) applies to every day scenarios, 3) templatized execution, 4) affordable, and 5) personalized 

Thus levelling the playing field for equal opportunities in the design industry.

So, I started an experiment in mid 2020. 

And the results were pretty phenomenal.

We grew 1400% in one year.

It was clear people valued UX Playbook.

My mission is to "Make UX Education Accessible & Enjoyable." 

My impact:

→ 14,000,000+ content impressions in the last 2 years
→ 270,000+ weekly newsletters & blogs read
→ 92,000+ people following my daily UX content
→ 17,000+ people downloaded my UX guides & templates
→ 1000+ people, from 84+ countries, bought my products 

If you want to learn more about how I can help you as a designer, you can check out:

FAST TRACK DESIGNER BUNDLE

In this 6 product bundle, you will learn how to thrive in your UX career. Build a kickass portfolio, learn how to job hunt, and master UX frameworks for project success, grow meaningfully, and lead your first design team. It’s packed with 93,000+ words, 130+ videos, 125+ templates, and 200+ examples. Join 15,000+ designers using this system to level up.

→ https://uxplaybook.org/fast

BACKLOG

If you're looking to replace your 9 to 5, become an independent designer, and kickstart your designpreneur journey, join us a Backlog. Be part of our tight-knit community, get personalized coaching, and access our resources made for design founders.

→ https://backlog.design

Email: hello@uxplaybook.org
YouTube, Twitter, IG: @uxchrisnguyen

Co-Founder & CPO

If UX Designers have a yearly wrapped...

(2025 version)

———
♻️ Repost if this is even slightly true for you

👉 Follow Christopher Nguyen for more unhinged wraps
🔗 Grow your UX career at UX Playbook

📰 Listen to me moan weekly in my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gmTfNKwN

2025 Wrapped

Figma valued at $20B.
Notion valued at $12B.
Canva valued at $42B.
Airbnb valued at $78B.
Pinterest valued at $22B.
Instagram valued at $100B.

All founded by designers.

Designers have founder DNA
(most just don’t know it yet)

Y Combinator’s latest Request for Startups memo said:

“More designers should be founders”

Yes, that YC.

Think about what’s winning today:

∗ Notion feels like clarity, digitalized.
∗ Figma made design a multiple player game.
∗ Canva made design stupidly simple for everyone.

Those wins weren’t just technical.
Those wins were emotional.

A designer’s gift is…

→ Taste
→ Intuition
→ Empathy
→ Storytelling
→ Sensitivity to friction

What could 100x your career?

𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀.

↳ Use AI to build
↳ Use your taste to differentiate
↳ Use your empathy to solve hard problems

Your aspirations shouldn’t be a “senior product designer”

It should be a Design Founder.

Designers who leap today will:

— Set their own vision
— Build products people love
— Own 20% of something they made

...Not 0% of someone else’s dream

The tools are here.
The moment is now.

If you could design anything, what would it be?

P.S. Thinking about making the leap? Best decision I ever made!

📰 Get a weekly email to grow your UX career 🌱
https://lnkd.in/gmTfNKwN — 2 minute read. No fluff.

I study these 7 sites
(not for inspiration)

The internet is full of “inspirational” portfolios.

Sadly, most designers copy the wrong things ↓

✘ They copy the layout
✘ They copy the colours
✘ They copy the branding
✘ They copy the animations
✘ They copy the positioning

The number one thing they should copy

But almost nobody does…

✨ The strategy ✨

Here are 7 sites to “copy” from ↓

✓⃝ pfolios.net
✓⃝ pafolios.com
✓⃝ personalsit.es
✓⃝ bestfolios.com
✓⃝ prettyfolio.com
✓⃝ wallofportfolios.in
✓⃝ portfolioproject.io

The value isn’t only in their visuals.

It’s in their strategic decisions:

→ How they tell their story
→ How they guide attention
→ How they frame problems
→ How they quantify success
→ How they position their role
→ How they simplify complexity
→ How they highlight collaboration

A recruiter’s attention span = one TikTok swipe.

In 3 seconds, they need to see:

• You fix problems
• You know your process
• You can make business impact

If it’s clear → interview.
If not → next.

A good portfolio sells you in seconds.

It makes recruiters think:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.”

Summer is over.

School is officially in session.

Good luck kids!

—

P.S. In the comments, I tell you how to reverse-engineer great portfolios.

I’ve reviewed 836+ resumes
78% designers made these 3 mistakes:

- Too detailed
- Too much fluff
- Too many graphics

That’s the main reason you're stuck in job limbo.

Use this playbook to:

• Understand outstanding resumes
• Spotlight your relevant experience
• Redesign guide to cater to employers

Good luck!

Repost ♻️ to save this resume guide.

—

P.S. Still need help? Grab my free UX resume template: https://lnkd.in/gijBUqBN

📌 My biggest (and only) sale of the year — 50% OFF with code: FRIYAY25
https://lnkd.in/gjeKnTka

I went from 0 experience to Head of Design in 4 years.

Then, in 2020, I quit.

Leaving the high-paying salary and status of working at a FinTech unicorn behind.

The job I once dreamed of wasn't align with my values.

But, I wasn't ready to give up on UX.

I intrinsically want to help other designers succeed. 

Working with 100s of designers, I realised that most designers are in someway self taught, but why? 

Because most UX education is incredibly expensive, lack accessibility, and real-world practicality.

I had a hypothesis.

Designers craved for education that 1) cuts to the core, 2) applies to every day scenarios, 3) templatized execution, and 4) affordable. 

Thus levelling the playing field for equal opportunities in the design industry.

So, I started an experiment in mid 2020. 

And the results were pretty phenomenal.

We grew 1400% in one year.

It was clear people valued UX Playbook.

My mission is to "Make UX Education Accessible To All." 

My impact:

→ 6,000,000+ content impressions in the last 2 years
→ 150,000+ weekly newsletters read
→ 42,000+ people following my daily UX content
→ 7000+ people downloaded my UX guides & templates
→ 600+ people, from 62+ countries, bought my products 

If you want to learn more about how I can help your design career, you can check out one of my products:

THE JUNIOR DESIGNER BUNDLE

In this 4 product bundle, you will learn how to stand out from other junior designers. Build a kickass portfolio, learn how to job hunt, and master UX frameworks for project success. It’s packed with 52,000+ words, 120+ videos, 80+ templates, and 75+ examples, to craft an unforgettable portfolio. Join 6000+ designers using this system to level up.

→ GO HERE: https://uxplaybook.org/fast

THE JOB SPRINT

In this 6-week online cohort, you will learn how to get hired in UX. Build a memorable personal brand, a killer strategy for job applications, and tactics to nail job interviews. If you’re looking for a UX role, then personalised coaching, battle-proven frameworks, and real-world practice will dramatically increase your odds.

→ https://uxplaybook.org/jobsprint

Email: hello@uxplaybook.org
YouTube, Twitter, IG: @uxchrisnguyen

Aftabul Islam Samudro

I spent 7 hours reviewing Senior UX portfolios (Meta, IBM, EA)

The 9 biggest mistakes I saw:

(Using Optimal’s new video Interviews tool to analyse 400+ minutes of my portfolio critiques)

1. Unclear value proposition
2. Ignoring conversion
3. Noticeable junior tendencies
4. No social proof
5. Chronological case studies
6. Vague problem-framing
7. Simple details overlooked
8. Fuzzy evidence (Senior → Leadership)
9. “I don’t know what you stand for”

(Read how to fix them in the carousel below ↓)

Here’s what I did:

1. Follow Optimal
2. Sign up for a Optimal plan
3. Create an Interviews study
4. Upload my 10 videos of critiques
5. Get summary, key themes, insights, and more.

Got a bunch of research videos?

This literally saved me HOURS.

Try Optimal here:
https://lnkd.in/gvMVpJRG

—

P.S. Which mistake 1-9 did you make? How can I help?

#optimalpartner

Optimal

9 Common Mistakes in Senior Portfolios

UX Designers, if you don't know these sites

You’re missing out:

1. Footer 
https://footer.design

2. Layers
https://layers.to

3. Mobbin
https://lnkd.in/gef3N3v7

4. Dark
https://dark.design

5. Refero
https://refero.design

6. The Component Gallery
https://component.gallery

7. Aceternity UI
https://ui.aceternity.com

8. Handheld!
https://handheld.design

9. Page Flows
https://pageflows.com

10. SaaS landing page
https://lnkd.in/gCnmCgBW

11. Nicely done
https://nicelydone.club

12. Product Hunt
https://producthunt.com/

13. appshots
https://appshots.design

14. Awwwards
https://awwwards.com

15. Godly
https://godly.website

—

Did you know all 15? Don’t lie.

♻️ Save this post for later by hitting repost

📌 My biggest (and only) sale of the year — 50% OFF with code: FRIYAY25
https://lnkd.in/gjeKnTka

15 website for design inspo

Get 50% OFF on uxplaybook.org (November only)

Dananjaya Perera

If you’re a designer with a portfolio, read this:

101 portfolio tips in 12 categories:
(which took me 10 years to learn)

1. Mindset
2. Audience
3. Platform
4. Quality
5. Writing
6. Credibility
7. Homepage
8. Call to action
9. About page
10. Images
11. Case studies
12. Other

Which one is your favourite tip?

P.S. Comment “EBOOK” and I’ll send you the 188-page ebook

—

📍 Download the 101 Portfolio Tips [FREE EBOOK]: https://lnkd.in/gzawFYEq

101 portfolio tips

Best deals this Black Friday (for designers)

1. DesignerUp Product Design Course ($100 off)
2. Product Strategy for Designers (36% off)
3. Accessible Design and Content Course (€57 off)
4. IntoUX "Job Hunt" community (30% off)
5. Figma Fast-Track Course ($100 off)
6. Shadcn UI Components (30% off)
7. Framer (50% off)
8. ProtoPie (40% off)
9. Onestream Live (40% off)
10. Pixpa (55% off)
11. My Web Audit (50% off)
12. TestDino (40% off)
13. Untitled UI (30% off)
14. Practical UI Book (40% off)
15. Beyond UX Design Shop (30% off)
16. Wrap Pixel (95% off)
17. UX Playbook (50% off)

…and more

All discount codes and links:
https://lnkd.in/gQ5Xrwvf

Enjoy folks!

—

P.S. Thanks Elizabeth Alli from DesignerUp for putting this list together

P.P.S. Found a great deal? Please share it below ↓

Product (UX/UI) Designer | Founder of DesignerUp | Educator

DesignerUp

The magic of design is at the intersection of…

𝗧𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 + 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 + 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴

Some designer’s don’t get this.

→ Their approach is cookie-cutter
→ Their portfolios lack personality
→ Their work looks like everyone else's

Then they wonder why they're not standing out.

That's why I'm bringing in Tommy Geoco on The Design of Everyday People.

1. Taste, and to how to develop it
2. Play, and how we should approach it
3. Stories, and what goes into narratives

And all of your questions!

Tommy writes, produces, and speaks about the hottest sh*t that modern tool-bending designers should watch out for with UX Tools and Internet Enjoyers.

If you want to hear how the best designers do their best work… 

Don’t sleep on this one.

See you on the inside.

📌 Drop your questions below. 
🎙️ We’ll answer them on Wednesday, Nov 26th!

taplio

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