How to Build an ID Portfolio You’ll Be Proud to Share

Creating a portfolio is one of those tasks that often gets pushed aside. You’re busy juggling projects, stakeholder meetings, deadlines, course development — and building a portfolio just never feels urgent.

But when the need finally arises (you’re job hunting or a great opportunity comes up), you sit down and feel completely stuck: what have I actually worked on this year? What were my biggest wins? Wait… what was that project even about?

If you’re looking for a new role, or if you’ve been meaning to create an ID portfolio but keep putting it off, this article is for you. You’ll learn why building your portfolio in advance (not mid-panic) is the smartest move — and how to approach it thoughtfully.

Why You Shouldn’t Wait for a Job Hunt to Build Your Portfolio

To avoid scrambling to piece together months (or years) of work under pressure, treat your portfolio like an ongoing project — something you update gradually.

Here’s why Anna Poli, Senior Instructional Designer at iSpring, recommends using your portfolio as a work journal:

Reflect on your own growth

It’s easy to lose track of what you’ve learned and accomplished, especially on fast-paced or collaborative projects. Collecting your best work as you go helps you see the bigger picture — where you’ve grown, what energizes you, and what skills you want to sharpen next.

Open doors you weren’t looking for

Even if you’re not job hunting, the right opportunity might still find you. A well-crafted portfolio gives you visibility and credibility. Whether someone finds you on LinkedIn or sees your work in a community, having a portfolio ready means you’re always putting your best foot forward.

Help others recommend you

Referrals often happen unexpectedly. When someone wants to recommend you, a polished portfolio gives them something solid to share. Instead of vague praise (“She’s great!”), your contact can send a link that shows exactly what you’re capable of and how you think.

4 Steps to Creating an ID Portfolio That Gets You Noticed

If you’ve decided it’s time to create your portfolio but feel stuck, Anna Poli has shared a quick-start guide to help you create a strong instructional design portfolio that highlights your thinking, creative process, and problem-solving skills.

Step 1. Review your work and choose your strongest projects

Start by looking back at your recent projects — the ones that reflect your actual instructional design skills. That might be a compliance course you managed on a tight deadline, a process you improved with better structure, or a curriculum you helped evolve over time.

Include samples that show a range of strengths: scenario design, interactivity, visual storytelling, assessments, accessibility, stakeholder collaboration, or instructional strategy.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a perfect course from start to finish. Even screenshots or walkthroughs with context can go a long way if you explain your thinking. Focus on quality, not quantity — three strong, well-explained samples beat ten with no story behind them.

Step 2. Write project summaries that tell the story

Hiring managers want to understand not just what the course looked like, but why you made the choices you did. So, instead of just listing project titles or adding screenshots, walk the viewer through your process: What was the challenge? What goals were you solving for? Who was the audience? What constraints did you face — and how did you work around them?

Here’s a simple structure that works well:

• Context. Who was the course for? What was the business or learning goal?
• Your role. What exactly did you do? (Did you work solo or with a team?)
• Approach. How did you design the solution? Any key choices or tools used?
• Outcome. What was the result (both qualitatively or quantitatively)?

Use plain, human language. Avoid buzzwords and long paragraphs to make your work easy to skim, but meaningful enough to leave an impression.

Step 3. Choose the right platform to host your portfolio

Once you’ve selected your best projects and written summaries, find a place to showcase them. A well-organized portfolio makes it easier for others to understand your strengths — and remember you.

There are several popular hosting options out there, each with its pros and cons:

• Hosted portfolio builders like Adobe Portfolio, Carbonmade, or Behance make it easy to upload and arrange your work, but may limit interactivity or SCORM support.
• Website builders like Wix, Webflow, or Squarespace offer full creative control — though they require more setup and often feel more like design projects than content showcases.
• Self-hosted sites (WordPress, custom domains) give you flexibility, but require you to manage hosting, plugins, and updates on your own.

If you want something faster and more tailored to instructional design, iSpring Suite Max gives you a built-in way to both create your course samples and host your portfolio — all in one place.

iSpring Suite Max is an award-winning authoring tool. Thousands of instructional designers around the world love it for its familiar interface, since it works right in PowerPoint, and its strong capabilities for creating advanced content: slide and scrollable SCORM courses, quizzes, video lectures, and even scenario-based simulations.

Inside iSpring Suite Max, a dedicated portfolio builder makes the process incredibly simple. You don’t need to fiddle with layouts, code, or third-party plugins. Just upload your projects, add descriptions, organize them into sections, and hit publish. You can:

• Add interactive course samples, not just screenshots or PDFs
• Write short, clear project summaries right inside the builder
• Structure your portfolio with ready-made blocks and templates
• Publish it online in just a few clicks — no domain setup needed

The result is a polished, responsive portfolio that works on any device and is easy to share or update. Whether you’re applying for a job, responding to a client inquiry, or sharing your work in the ID community, you’ll have something compelling to showcase.

Step 4. Promote your ID portfolio online

Even the most polished portfolio won’t help much if no one sees it. To get real value from the time and effort you’ve put in, make your portfolio easy to find and relevant in the right context.

Add the link to your LinkedIn About section, Featured content, and Work Experience. Use it in your email signature and résumé header. This helps anyone viewing your profile see proof of your skills right away.

When working with new teams or pitching internal projects, include a relevant portfolio sample. It helps build credibility, especially if stakeholders are unfamiliar with your work or how you approach instructional design.

Pro tip if you’re active in the community: write a short post or blog walking through your design decisions: “Here’s how I redesigned onboarding based on learner feedback,” or “We cut seat time by 30% using branching scenarios! Here’s how.” This gives your work visibility and shows how you think.

Your portfolio lets you take ownership of your work, reflect on your growth, and highlight the thinking behind your design decisions. When you build it consistently over time, it becomes a clear, compelling picture of your approach — and helps your professional value stand out.

Christine Quinn is a marketing copywriter at iSpring Solutions. She regularly reviews the latest strategies in effective eLearning design and shares her insights on the iSpring eLearning blog.