Please help me review my documents for endorsement via tech nation

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Hey everyone :wave:,
I’m preparing to submit my Tech Nation Global Talent (Exceptional Promise) application under the Product Design / UX track and would love some expert feedback before I finalise.

Here’s a structured summary of my documents and evidence for review :point_down:

:brain: Recommendation Letters

  • **CEO of … ** – Describes my leadership on two Gates Foundation–backed EdTech products (A and B Learning Platform) impacting 25,000+ potential users and 1,800 currently onboarded.
  • **CEO of … ** – Highlights my product-led design work that improved app ratings (1.3⭐ → 3.5⭐), reduced onboarding time (5min → 2min), and increased active users adding 14k+ users.
  • COO at … – Focuses on my public contributions: mentorship, speaking, and design education initiatives since 2020.

(All Nigerian Based)

:bar_chart: Mandatory Criteria (3 documents)

  1. Evidence of speaking at DevFest Port Harcourt 2024 (Google event) – Over 1,300 attendees; main-stage panel on Building Responsible AI in Design.
  2. Evidence of leading product growth at … – Metrics, App Store screenshots, Figma version histroy, and CEO/CTO letters showing measurable design impact & 80k+ downloads.
  3. Evidence of high salary and recognition at … (Austria) – Deel contracts, pay slips, and feature launch proof showing recognition above local market averages and how my design contributed to the success of the Series C funding round .
    • CTO of … – Technical support letter validating the metrics, product impact, and UX improvements.

:earth_africa: Optional Criteria 2 – Recognition Beyond Employment (3 documents)

  1. Structured Mentorship Program (Titled Labs) – 800+ members, 300 active participants, 30 completed projects, 10 successful job placements (Oct 2024–Mar 2025) with proofs of testimonials (3) & livestreams.
  2. Open Source / Figma Community Contributions – 7,000+ views, 2,800+ users, 60+ saves across 2 published design kits freely used by global designers.
  3. Speaking at Figma Config PH 2024 – Invited as one of 5 speakers (150+ attendees). Shared insights on “Communication in Design” with feedback tweets, Medium article, and event page proof plus 3 testimonials on twitter.

:bulb: Optional Criteria 3 – Significant Contribution to Product-Led Companies (2 documents)

  1. … (SaaS CMS) – Led the design of its first mobile-responsive experience for its 200,000+ users, and key features like bulk asset tagging, 2FA for partners, API documentation redesign, and others.
  2. … (EdTech for Health Sector) – Designed and led the UI/UX for *** and *** Digital Learning Platform (Gates Foundation–supported), onboarding 1,700 students across 20+ nursing schools and expanding to potential 25,000 users.
  3. Letter from the 2nd Product Led - SaaS CMS company. (My Head of Design - Manager)

:jigsaw: Key Highlights Across My Application, CV, & Personal statement

  • User impact: My design work across all products and open projects has reached 400,000+ users globally.
  • Public engagement: 2,000+ designers mentored through my free design education initiatives and talks.
  • Recognition: Invited speaker at Google DevFest, Figma Config, and community design events across Africa.
  • Career growth: Progressed from self-taught designer (2019) to senior product designer for international SaaS and EdTech companies by 2025.
  • UK impact plan: To contribute to the UK’s design-tech ecosystem through mentorship, SaaS design consulting, and collaborative open-source initiatives around AI-assisted design tools including my start up project & Creator agency.
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You have a solid set of evidences, @Brightmac.

General:
Make sure your Letters of Recommendation (LORs) highlight both your industry recognition and impact on the field, not just within your organization.

Mandatory Criteria (MC):

  • Clarify the scale and relevance of DevFest Port Harcourt—is it a major event? Provide context and include the invite letter.
  • For evidences #2 and #4, ensure they reflect industry-level impact and recognition, not just company-level achievements.

Optional Criterion 2 (OC2):

  • Add a letter from the mentorship organizing body explaining why you were selected as a mentor, confirming that it’s a structured program, and describing its impact. Include details of the program’s structure.
  • For evidence #3, attach an invite letter or organizer confirmation.

Optional Criterion 3 (OC3):

  • Strengthen both evidences with quantified impact on core company metrics—for example, revenue growth, user acquisition, sales, or volume increases.
  • The accompanying letters should validate both your contributions and their quantified outcomes.
  • Include design architectures, user flows, and product design samples where relevant.
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Thank you so much @pahuja

General:

For the LORs yeah, they highlighted my contributions & the impact of my work in the past 5 years.

Mandatory Criterion:

Yeah the Google Devfest is a major event, i mentioned that is a Google Developers sponsored event.

For evidences #2 & #4, I’m not sure how to go about reflecting industry-level impact and recognition, I majorly highlighted the company level achievements.

Since it was a design work, where i worked in a blockchain company in 2021, improved their design systems and held session to teach customers about blockchain and using the platform.

Optional Criterion 2 (OC2):

  • For the mentorship, I actually ran it myself, I organized it myself, is that a problem?

But I added detail of the structure (I had a team of 4 managing the students, it ran for months, we had a learing plan, we had groups based on level of experience & most of our classes were streamed on Youtube & Loom).

– for the impact i added 3 receipts of testimonials (2 whatsapp snapshot, 1 twitter post with the link).

  • For evidence #3, the invite letter or organizer confirmation, WILL this be a part of the 3 paged document?.

Optional Criterion 3 (OC3):

  • For the first one (Product led company A); I don’t have the in-depth details as it concerns screenshot of the database of the revenue growth & sales (they’re not built for profit), but i have the ones for user acquisition (showing the 1800+ students onboarded).

AND one of the 3 main recommenders is the current CEO of this organization & he validated my work and its outcomes.

  • For the Second one (Product led company B); I don’t have the in-depth details as it concerns screenshot of all the dashboards, but I have the Figma work (product design samples) showing my contribution, slack conversations showing I led 2 key features & I explained that my work was instrumental and contributed to revenue growth & in the success of the company’s $80m series funding in 2024 as i left the team 6 weeks before the announcement.

For the 10th evidence under the OC3 it will be a letter to validate both my contributions and their quantified outcomes. in the Product led company B. (yet to collect this one from my former design manager)

ALSO, do i need to attach the CV of my recommenders to their letters

CC: @pahuja @Francisca_Chiedu @Akash_Joshi

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  • In #2 and #4 see if there’s a bridge you can create on how your work impacted the company and further how it helped the company in any form of competitive edge or industry advantage.
  • Self mentorships & online sessions are not considered as per the guidelines. This will be flagged if included in the application. Only mentorships organized by a body with a program structure and selection of mentees are considered.
  • yes the invite letter can be a 1 pager part of the overall 3 page evidence document.
  • If a letter confirms the quantified impact of OC3 that’s fine: for the first one please link validation to LOR so they don’t miss it.
  • you can provide LinkedIn links of the recommenders or CV. Either of the two works.
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Your application has strong foundations, especially with the Gates Foundation-backed EdTech work and your DevFest speaking engagement. I’ve reviewed several product designer applications and your profile shows real promise. The key issue is how you’re framing certain elements, not the achievements themselves.

The self-organized mentorship program is a significant concern. Tech Nation explicitly rejects mentorships you’ve organized yourself, even with structured syllabi and YouTube recordings. I’ve seen this flag applications before. You need mentorship from an established organization that selected you as a mentor. Consider pivoting this evidence to a community education initiative that advances the field instead. Your 800+ members and job placements show real impact.

For your mandatory criteria, focus on bridging company achievements to industry-level impact. When you mention the blockchain company’s improved metrics, explain how your specific design innovations gave them competitive advantage in their market. Include details about what design systems or approaches you pioneered that others could adopt. For the Austrian company, connect your work to their Series C success by explaining what specific design contributions made their product investment-worthy. Revenue growth alone isn’t enough without showing your innovation.

Your OC3 evidence needs stronger quantifiable validation. For the EdTech platform, having the CEO as a recommender is excellent, but supplement with dashboard screenshots showing the 1,800+ onboarded students. For the SaaS CMS company, your Slack conversations and Figma work are good starts. Get that validation letter from your design manager focusing on how your contributions enabled measurable business outcomes. Don’t just say you contributed to funding success - explain which features you designed made the product compelling to investors.

Your speaking evidence is solid with DevFest being Google-sponsored. Just ensure you include the invitation letter and emphasize the panel size and your role. For the Figma Config talk, the invitation confirmation strengthens your case considerably. These demonstrate field recognition beyond your day job.

You’re closer than you think. Focus on reframing your mentorship as field advancement work, strengthening the innovation narrative in your company contributions, and getting those dashboard screenshots and validation letters. Your 400,000+ user reach and international funding show genuine impact. Just tell that story more strategically.

You can read through this as well for tips and ideas - Endorsed as a Product Designer after Rejection! A case Study

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Hi @Brightmac

Your evidence set is solid and it’s clear you’ve been in the tech game for a while. Make sure your decision on the route aligns with your experience and narrative, because some rejection feedback has pointed out that applicants had more experience based on their evidence set and trajectory than the route they chose. – Promise

Recommendation letters: Do the authors have a clear trajectory in the tech sector, whether on the technical or business side? Also, the way you presented what their letters highlighted might give the impression that the content was influenced.The letters should clearly show how they know you and the work you’ve done with or for them amongst other things as stated in the guidance. Is the first author the CEO of Gates… or someone you worked with there? The same should be checked for the other authors.

Evidence of speaking at DevFest is strong, and its association with Google makes it a top-tier event. However, I became concerned after meeting several applicants within one week who all listed DevFest in their MC. That prompted me to do some research on the criteria for being a speaker at the event. I found that speakers at Google DevFest typically submit a proposal or express interest through an open call, rather than being selected solely based on recognition or reputation. While this can still work as MC evidence, you’ll want to show the invitation letter, a video of you speaking on stage, and other convincing proof beyond just mentioning its association with Google and that you spoke.

For your second MC, the first thing is to show that the product growth was for a product-led digital technology company. Do the app screenshots mention your name? Is your Figma version control visible? Make sure the latest version matches what’s currently in the store. This helps attribute the work to you, since the app will most likely carry the company’s name. The reference letter should mention growth in terms of metrics, not just downloads or user acquisition.

Salary and other details All you stated are useful, but the emphasis should be on the salary and how it reflects your value in the tech sector. Proof of feature launches isn’t necessary here,you’re drifting from the core evidence - renumeration.

MC4: Another letter from a CTO, following the one in MC2, may dilute the strength of your MC evidence set. Also, letters are meant to reference specific evidence as you’ve rightly done in MC2. But in MC4, what evidence is the letter referencing?

All the best

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Thank you so much for the detailed feedback.

For my OC2 - mentorship. After pivoting it, to a Community Education Initiative, can it still be a stand alone evidence?

I have now pivoted it as a Creative Community which was structured, and i shared 3 testimonials screenshot, I am looking at adding a few video testimonials in a drive and adding the link as well.

  • For the second MC, the product has been significantly improved since 2021 when i worked with the team, but i shared a promotion they made with the app in 2021 and my Figma design work that matches with version history showing the timestamp.

  • What do you think about my Figma community resources as a standalone evidence under the OC2

Also with my salary i mentioned that, my work contributed to the success of the funding and revenue growth, & proved with a few features launched and promoted - (to add its the same Austrian company that is my OC3)

For my MC: Google Devfest speaking engagement. I added the invitation letter but what it shows is the organizers rejecting my application to speak (because of the plenty of applications they got), and them extending an invite for me to join their panel session talking about AI based on my domain knowledge. - hope its not a problem.

  • For the config, I have requested for a letter from the organizers to attach to my evidence but i added in my evidence the Whatsapp screenshot of one of the organizers asking me to come speak.

CC: @Akash_Joshi @Francisca_Chiedu

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Thank you so much, I will improve with this and share the update.

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@Brightmac I think the rejection for your application to speak at Devfest invalidates the focus of MC - recognition.

WhatsApp invitation is not formal for a top tier event though. So, you may want to show other evidence that shows you spoke, regardless.

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Really?, I will have to take it out.

I think I will just use the thank you message only. Although they started as Dear Sir/Ma not my name.

Here they mentioned the number of attendees. it is a thank you message sent to all speakers.

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This is weak third party verification. Try getting an individual reference letter from the organizers.

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Thank you for your response, I have requested for both letters, the Devfest and CONFIG.

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Quick one, For salary, does it have to be current company or it can be previous even if it’s almost 1 year since I left the company and the amount is 8x the average in my country.

Also speaking at an event with over 180 people in attendance, is that significant enough? (There’s pictures and letter from the organizer)

@Akash_Joshi @Raphael @Francisca_Chiedu

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It can be other companies as well. The requirements mention no such limitation. Have you read through them already?

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yeah, I have read through them.

a few more question,

Does salary still work - looking to use it as my 4th MC document.

Also speaking at an event with over 180 people in attendance, is that significant enough? (There’s pictures and letter from the organizer).

For a Product_led contribution. - is still possible for it to fly if i don’t support it with letter? (I have slack shoutout screenshots, Figma shots, company promoting the features) - as an OC3

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I’m afraid you haven’t read through the requirements completely yet :smile: .

Note that salary or remuneration information alone is insufficient, you will have to demonstrate how you have made a significant impact in the sector beyond your day-to-day activities.

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Yeah, sure i am aware of this, i just have been seeing some people complain about salary as a standalone document isnt strong enough as you have to support with a letter to demonstrante the impact.

I guess, it will be proven just like it is in other evidence.

Thank you so much for your response, @Akash_Joshi

For a Product_led contribution. - is still possible for it to fly if i don’t support it with letter? (I have slack shoutout screenshots, Figma shots, company promoting the features) - as an OC3

(I asked this because i am still waiting for response for my ex-manager and it is not looking like i will get it anytime soon)