Designer Summer Skill List: 10 Ways to Land a Job in Autumn
This episode is in Finnish. The video below is the original recording; this page provides an English summary for easier reading.
Summary
Annika and Tuomas list ten summer tasks for designers: portfolio, Figma, AI tools, UX research, accessibility, and LinkedIn.
About The Good Side in this episode
This is the spring season finale before summer break. Annika and Tuomas cover what a junior designer can do before the autumn job hunt, why the portfolio is the single most important factor in hiring, and how to practise UX research by interviewing a few people about one service you know is broken.
Key discussion points
- The portfolio is the most important tool in job hunting: it creates a first impression of your skills before the interview even starts
- A strong portfolio shows the starting problem and your reasoning, not just the polished final output
- Figma is still the leading design tool: auto layout and components must be mastered even if you rely on AI assistants
- Redesign practice works best on a real service you know is broken: muusikoiden.net or Foreca are examples from the episode
- To learn AI tools properly, go straight to Claude Code or similar agent tools rather than only using Figma Make
- UX research can be practised with just a few people: interviewing real users about one service is still real research
- Accessibility is now a legal requirement in the EU: the European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force in June 2025, enforcing WCAG AA
- LinkedIn writing gets easier when you write about what you learned or noticed at work today, not about topics you think you should cover
- Presenting your work is as important as the work itself: employers and clients trust you more when you explain why you chose a solution
- Spring season finale before summer break; whether the podcast continues is decided in autumn based on listener feedback and energy
Questions & answers
- How should a portfolio be built with no real client projects?
- Focus on problem-solving: show the starting point, why you did the redesign, and what you changed. Before-and-after visuals are compelling. Without well-known brands, showing your process is what signals to an interviewer that you can think, not just execute.
- Which AI tools are worth learning this summer?
- Figma Make is an easy entry point, but Annika recommended going straight to Claude Code or a similar agentic tool. Learning to prompt there gives you a real understanding of how AI generates UI, and that knowledge transfers to every other tool.
- Why does accessibility matter right now?
- The EU European Accessibility Act came into force in June 2025. Digital services must meet WCAG AA level or risk fines. In practice that means sufficient text contrast, alt text for images, and screen-reader support. As a designer it pays to know these requirements already.
Topics: designer summer checklist, UX portfolio, Figma learning, AI design tools, UX research practice, accessibility WCAG, LinkedIn for designers, redesign practice, junior UX designer, The Good Side, Behind the Pixels podcast, Annika Tuominen, Tuomas Kaartoluoma