Streamlining My Portfolio: Solving Common UX Designer Challenges
Updating a UX portfolio is something many designers struggle with. It’s easy to put it off, and when the time comes, the process can feel overwhelming—from deciding what to showcase to gathering assets from years of work.
As I tackled my own portfolio update, I faced two key challenges: information overload and asset management. Here’s how I solved them to create a more structured, scalable, and efficient portfolio update process.
Problem #1: Too Many Projects, Too Much Complexity
One of the biggest roadblocks I hit was how to organize my work. I’ve worked on a lot of great projects, but listing all of them would have led to cognitive overload for anyone trying to understand my career trajectory.
Solution: Better Information Architecture
Instead of showcasing individual projects separately, I grouped case studies under the products I worked on. This way, my portfolio reflects a structured hierarchy:
Company Level – Displays the companies I’ve worked for and my roles at each.
Product Level – Highlights the specific products I contributed to within each company.
Project/Feature Level – Dives into my contributions, key features I designed, and measurable impact within each product.
By structuring my portfolio this way, visitors can easily:
Navigate my work history without feeling overwhelmed.
See my career growth and UX contributions across multiple products.
Get a clear understanding of my impact in a way that flows naturally.
This approach not only made my portfolio more digestible but also allowed me to keep it concise and focused—showing my best work without unnecessary repetition.
Problem #2: Gathering Assets Was Tedious
One of the most time-consuming parts of updating my portfolio was pulling assets from old files and ensuring consistency. Finding screenshots, prototypes, and visuals that fit well into my portfolio layout was a tedious process.
Solution: Creating Asset Templates & Quick Exporting
To make asset gathering faster and more consistent, I:
Created resolution templates for images based on where they’d appear on my site (e.g., 16:9 for hero images, 1:1 for most other visuals).
Used Figma’s “Copy as PNG” feature to quickly extract assets from older design files without spending hours re-exporting.
This significantly cut down the time I spent adjusting images and made my portfolio look more polished and cohesive.
A Generalized Template for Every Case Study
To ensure my portfolio had a consistent structure, I used a generalized case study template:
Summary – What the product or project is and its purpose.
My Role – How I contributed and the challenges I tackled.
Process – My design approach, including research, ideation, and iterations.
Key Features – Highlights of what I designed and the impact it had.
Conclusion – Results, key takeaways, and reflections on the project.
Having this framework in place made it easier to plug in new case studies without reinventing the wheel. I’ve uploaded a template to the community if you to check it out:
Final Thoughts
Updating a portfolio doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By focusing on information architecture, efficient asset gathering, and structured storytelling, I was able to make my portfolio easier to navigate, faster to update, and more effective at showcasing my work.
For fellow designers struggling with their own portfolios, I’d recommend:
Organizing projects under products for clarity
Using asset templates for quick and consistent visuals
Following a structured case study format to streamline content
These small but impactful changes saved me time and made my portfolio a much stronger reflection of my work.