Karen Karapetyan · Senior Product Designer at AleNet Tecnologies
Assessed
Sep 26, 2026
Verification
Portfolio and Case Study Review
Verdict: borderline
Svetlana has a solid foundation: her case studies cover the full UX/UI process, and her UI work shows a good grasp of visual hierarchy.
1 demonstrated3 partial
The gap is how the work is told. Her case studies read as a list of steps she completed rather than a story, so a reviewer cannot quickly see who the product is for, what problem those users had, what challenges came up, and how her decisions solved them. The business side is also missing, and a strong case study needs to show both the user outcome and the business outcome and how the design aligned them. The good news is that this is a presentation and framing gap, not a skills gap. The work underneath is there, and she was open and quick to take feedback on board, which tells me she can close this gap fast.
Her screens showed a good understanding of visual hierarchy and a clean, consistent layout. A few small issues in spacing and emphasis came up, but the overall UI quality meets the bar.
Portfolio Review
Partial
When presenting her case study, she walked through it as a sequence of process steps (research, personas, wireframes, UI) rather than a story. The user, their problem, and how her work solved it never came through as a clear narrative.
UX Strategy
Partial
When asked what the product achieved for the business, there was no answer in the case study. Design decisions were not connected to a business goal or a measurable outcome, only to the process itself.
Product Design
Partial
Asked to name the hardest challenge in the project and how she solved it, she could describe what she did but not the problem she faced or the decision she made. Her problem-solving is not yet visible in how she presents the work.
Evidence
What happened in the session
Her case studies include every stage of a UX/UI process, which shows she knows the methods and has done the work thoroughly.
When presenting, she described the project step by step: what she did first, then next, then after that. It sounded like a process report, not a story. There was no clear moment where the user and their problem were introduced.
It was not visible who the product was for, what pain those users had, or how her final design answered it. A reviewer would have to piece this together on their own.
The challenges she faced during the project were missing. When asked what was hard and how she handled it, the answer was not in the case study, so her problem-solving skills stay hidden.
Business outcomes were absent. There was no link between the design and a business goal, and no sense of how user needs and business needs were aligned.
On UI, her visual hierarchy and layout were solid, with a few small issues in spacing and emphasis that are easy to polish.
Throughout the session she was open, engaged, and ready to improve, and she responded to feedback with real interest rather than defensiveness.
Action plan
What to do next
1
Rewrite your strongest case study as a story, not a process log. Use this structure: who the user is, what problem they have, why it matters to the business, what you did and why, the challenges you hit, and the result. Keep process steps only where they explain a decision.
2
Open every case study with a short problem statement: one or two sentences on the user, their pain, and the business goal. A reviewer should understand the point of the project in the first 30 seconds.
3
Add a "challenges and decisions" section to each case study. Pick one or two real obstacles, the options you considered, and why you chose your solution. This is where your problem-solving becomes visible.
4
Show outcomes for both sides: what changed for users and what it meant for the business. If you have no metrics, describe the expected impact and what you would measure.
5
Practice presenting the rewritten case study out loud in 5 minutes, then re-attempt this review in 8 weeks. Recommended reading: "Articulating Design Decisions" by Tom Greever.
