How a self-taught UX designer with only spec work in his portfolio redesigned a real booking flow, drove a 40% conversion increase, and earned references from two Product Heads at real tech companies.
Tourism Degree – Self-taught UX through online courses
Guadalajara, Mexico
Role: UX/UI Designer
Duration: 60 days (first term) + 4-month gap + second term
Carlos had spent two years teaching himself UX design after graduating with a tourism degree. He'd completed every major online course, built a portfolio of spec redesigns, and genuinely understood design principles. But every hiring manager said the same thing: "These are concept projects. Have you designed for a real product with real users?" He couldn't answer yes. Spec work showed he could think like a designer. It couldn't prove he could ship.
An Australian travel tech SaaS company building a scalable booking and itinerary platform used by 50,000+ monthly users across Asia-Pacific.
A designer to redesign the core booking flow — the most critical conversion path in the entire product. Real users, real metrics, real stakes.
Emma (Head of Product) owned the design process. The engineering team built what was designed. Users provided the feedback loop.
The booking flow directly drove revenue. A redesign that improved conversion would be immediately measurable — and immediately valuable.
"No one believed I could design until Emma told them about the 40% conversion increase I drove on real booking software used by thousands. Real product managers at real tech companies giving real references — you can't fake that."
— Carlos, Guadalajara
Four months after his first term, Carlos returned for a second term at a US healthtech SaaS (telemedicine platform) — a completely different vertical, a different Product Head, a second referenceable credential. A Mexican e-commerce platform called Emma during the hiring process. Emma confirmed the 40% conversion increase, described his design process, and vouched for his ability to work within a product team. Carlos was hired as a Mid-Level Product Designer.
A 40% conversion increase on a live product is a credential no spec work can match — and Emma could verify every number.
Working across travel tech and healthtech gave Carlos references from different product domains — showing versatility, not just one lucky project.
Actual users testing actual prototypes forced genuine iteration — the kind of design process employers want to see evidence of.
This hypothetical scenario shows how real product design work creates credentials that spec projects never can. Your path to production experience could start today.