How do you filter 100+ proposals to hire the best freelancer?

I recently posted a job on Upwork to build the UI for my AI chat application and received over 100 proposals within a day. I’m not sure what’s the best process to filter through them and make the right hire.

If you’ve been in this situation before, what’s your protocol for narrowing down a large applicant pool? Do you:

• Start with portfolio review before messaging anyone?
• Give a small paid test project to the top few candidates?
• Look for specific red/green flags in the proposals?

I’m especially interested in how you balance speed vs. thoroughness when you’re eager to start but don’t want to make a bad hire. Any checklists, step-by-step processes, or personal “rules” you’ve developed would be super helpful.

Thanks in advance!