Grade 9 · Portfolio design

Portfolio autopsy

Analyse an existing portfolio and identify what helps or confuses its users.

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Assignment 1. Portfolio AutopsyDue 26 Aug 2026 at 10:15 · China time
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NAME: ____________________________

CLASS: ____________________________

DATE: ____________________________

PORTFOLIO AUTOPSY

Grade 9 Design • UX / UI • Criterion A

Today you will analyze real portfolio websites, test how quickly they communicate, and define the user for your own portfolio.

Today’s rule: “It looks good” is not enough. Every judgment must be tied to what the user can see, understand, predict, or do.

A	THE FIVE UX TESTSUse these five lenses while you investigate portfolio websites.

1	PURPOSE	Can I tell what this site is for within five seconds?
2	HIERARCHY	Do I know where to look first, second, and third?
3	NAVIGATION	Can I predict where links and buttons will take me?
4	CONSISTENCY	Do pages, colors, type, buttons, and layouts behave like one system?
5	FRICTION	What makes the user stop, search, wait, guess, or become confused?

In your own words: What is UX friction? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

B	START YOUR DESIGN FOLDERCreate a file named: G9 Portfolio Project - [Your Name]

Use these headings in your folder:

A.i	Need / User
A.ii	Research Plan
A.iii	Existing Product Analysis
A.iv	Design Brief

1	PORTFOLIO AUTOPSY #1Choose a real person’s portfolio: designer, developer, architect, photographer, animator, engineer, artist, etc.

Portfolio owner / site name: ________________________________	URL: ________________________________
Field / profession: ________________________________	Likely target audience: ________________________________

First impressions

What do you notice first? ________________________________________________________________________________

What does the owner most want the visitor to do? ________________________________________________________________________________

How is the work organized? ________________________________________________________________________________

What tells you who this portfolio is for? ________________________________________________________________________________

Score the UX

Test	Evidence / quick note	Score
Purpose	Can you understand the site quickly?	___ / 5
Hierarchy	Is attention directed clearly?	___ / 5
Navigation	Can you predict where to go?	___ / 5
Consistency	Does the interface behave like one system?	___ / 5
Low friction	Does it avoid unnecessary effort?	___ / 5

Design judgment

BEST FEATURE	What works especially well, and why? ________________________________________________________________________
WORST FEATURE	What creates confusion, friction, or weak communication? ________________________________________________________________________
BORROW	One idea worth adapting for your own portfolio. ________________________________________________________________________
AVOID	One design choice you would deliberately reject. ________________________________________________________________________

2	PORTFOLIO AUTOPSY #2Choose a real person’s portfolio: designer, developer, architect, photographer, animator, engineer, artist, etc.

Portfolio owner / site name: ________________________________	URL: ________________________________
Field / profession: ________________________________	Likely target audience: ________________________________

First impressions

What do you notice first? ________________________________________________________________________________

What does the owner most want the visitor to do? ________________________________________________________________________________

How is the work organized? ________________________________________________________________________________

What tells you who this portfolio is for? ________________________________________________________________________________

Score the UX

Test	Evidence / quick note	Score
Purpose	Can you understand the site quickly?	___ / 5
Hierarchy	Is attention directed clearly?	___ / 5
Navigation	Can you predict where to go?	___ / 5
Consistency	Does the interface behave like one system?	___ / 5
Low friction	Does it avoid unnecessary effort?	___ / 5

Design judgment

BEST FEATURE	What works especially well, and why? ________________________________________________________________________
WORST FEATURE	What creates confusion, friction, or weak communication? ________________________________________________________________________
BORROW	One idea worth adapting for your own portfolio. ________________________________________________________________________
AVOID	One design choice you would deliberately reject. ________________________________________________________________________

3	PORTFOLIO AUTOPSY #3Choose a real person’s portfolio: designer, developer, architect, photographer, animator, engineer, artist, etc.

Portfolio owner / site name: ________________________________	URL: ________________________________
Field / profession: ________________________________	Likely target audience: ________________________________

First impressions

What do you notice first? ________________________________________________________________________________

What does the owner most want the visitor to do? ________________________________________________________________________________

How is the work organized? ________________________________________________________________________________

What tells you who this portfolio is for? ________________________________________________________________________________

Score the UX

Test	Evidence / quick note	Score
Purpose	Can you understand the site quickly?	___ / 5
Hierarchy	Is attention directed clearly?	___ / 5
Navigation	Can you predict where to go?	___ / 5
Consistency	Does the interface behave like one system?	___ / 5
Low friction	Does it avoid unnecessary effort?	___ / 5

Design judgment

BEST FEATURE	What works especially well, and why? ________________________________________________________________________
WORST FEATURE	What creates confusion, friction, or weak communication? ________________________________________________________________________
BORROW	One idea worth adapting for your own portfolio. ________________________________________________________________________
AVOID	One design choice you would deliberately reject. ________________________________________________________________________

C	THE FIVE-SECOND TESTA user’s memory is evidence. The designer’s explanation is not.

Choose the strongest portfolio from your three analyses. Show its homepage to a partner for exactly FIVE SECONDS, then hide it.

1. Whose website was this?	____________________________________________________
2. What kind of work do they do?	____________________________________________________
3. What did you notice first?	____________________________________________________
4. What do you remember visually?	____________________________________________________
5. What would you have clicked?	____________________________________________________

What did the five-second test reveal that the website owner/designer might not notice? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

D	DEFINE YOUR PRIMARY USERYour portfolio is for a real audience, not simply for yourself.

Choose ONE primary audience. Examples: university admissions, internship employer, competition judge, future client, collaborator.

My primary user is:	Who exactly are they? ________________________________________________________________
They need to understand:	What must become clear quickly? ________________________________________________________________
They care most about:	What evidence or information matters to them? ________________________________________________________________
They might leave if:	What could frustrate or bore them? ________________________________________________________________
I want them to:	What action should they take next? ________________________________________________________________

E	THREE RULES FOR MY PORTFOLIOConvert today’s research into specific design requirements.

Weak rule: “My website should look good.” Strong rule: “A visitor must be able to reach my strongest project from the homepage in one click.”

1	My portfolio must / must not ... ________________________________________________________________________ Because / evidence from today’s research: __________________________________________

2	My portfolio must / must not ... ________________________________________________________________________ Because / evidence from today’s research: __________________________________________

3	My portfolio must / must not ... ________________________________________________________________________ Because / evidence from today’s research: __________________________________________

F	EXIT REFLECTIONFinish with a design judgment, not a description.

The most important UX idea I learned today is ... ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

One assumption I had about websites that changed today is ... ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT STEP

Next lesson: research planning + short user interviews. Your observations today will become evidence for Criterion A.