175: How to Deal with NDAs When Creating Your UX Portfolio

About this episode

In this episode, Sarah Doody discusses how to handle NDA-protected work in a UX portfolio and offers practical advice for UX professionals.

NDAs stop a lot of UX professionals from including their best work in their portfolio, but they might not be the obstacle you think they are. Sarah has spent nearly a decade coaching UX professionals, and one of the questions she gets most often is how to handle NDA-protected work in a portfolio. In this episode, she walks through what NDAs typically do and don't restrict, how to write about protected work without violating your agreement, and why UX recruiters and hiring managers aren't looking for pixel-perfect deliverables (and what they are looking for instead.) Sarah also shares a concrete example of how to frame a confidential project in a way that's compelling, specific, and respectful of any agreements you've signed. If you've been leaving projects out of your portfolio because you weren't sure what you could share, this episode is worth a listen. Topics Discussed ✅ What NDAs actually restrict vs. what most people assume they restrict (they're not the same thing) ✅ A concrete example of how to write about a confidential project without naming the company, showing screens, or violating any agreements ✅ Why UX recruiters and hiring managers care far more about how you think…

People in this episode

Host: Sarah Doody

Topics covered

• NDAs
• UX portfolio
• confidential projects
• UX case studies
• recruitment
• hiring managers

Keywords

• NDA
• UX design
• portfolio
• case study
• recruitment
• hiring
• confidentiality

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