How to build a strong Design Systems Portfolio
What I Learned from Justine Montgomery at Into Design Systems Conference 2025
At Into Design Systems 2025, Justine Montgomery, a design system specialist at Stripe, shared her honest and practical advice on building a design systems portfolio that actually works.
Her talk, “Design Systems Portfolios — A Practical Guide,” was packed with tips that go beyond showing nice components.
It was about storytelling, impact, and how to make your work clear to the people who matter.
From graphic design to design systems
Justine started by sharing her journey from self-taught graphic designer to design systems expert.
She spoke about discovering Material UI and Atlassian Design, and how that opened the door to system thinking, something she grew deeply passionate about.
Her key point:
You don’t need to come from a traditional background. Passion, curiosity, and persistence matter more.
What makes a good case study?
Justine broke it down simply:
- Focus on problem-solving, not just technical skills
- Highlight stakeholder needs — think about what recruiters, designers, devs, and managers want to see
- Make it interactive where possible (she uses tools like Jitter for animations)
- Don’t over-design — clarity beats flash
She suggested recording the full journey of creating a component, including what went wrong. That’s where the real story is.
Tell a story, not just specs
Justine emphasized showing:
- How you implemented tokens and why it mattered
- The impact your system had — use Figma analytics, adoption data, or user feedback
- How you iterated based on feedback
And importantly: NDAs shouldn’t stop you.
Create fake projects, passion projects, or freelance work to show your skills.
Common mistakes to avoid
Here’s what to watch for:
- Overloading a case study with too many points — focus on one main topic
- Relying only on password-protected work — make something accessible
- Over-designing your portfolio — focus on hierarchy, clarity, and context
She also suggested including testimonials or peer feedback to add credibility.
Build community, ask for feedback
Justine encouraged everyone to:
- Share portfolios in a Slack “portfolio sharing” channel for peer review for example in the Into Design Systems Slack Group
- Keep learning from feedback — it helps you refine your story and your work
A few final takeaways
🎯 Start small. Focus on one component, one problem, one story.
🎯 Think about impact and adoption — that’s what stakeholders care about.
🎯 Don’t wait for perfect circumstances. Use creativity to show what you can do.
Want to dive deeper?
If this sparked ideas, you can explore Justine’s full session, slides, templates, and all the extra resources:
👉 Get instant access to all recordings and materials
Happy learning!
Sil 🫶
P.S:
Hope to see you at our upcoming online jam: Figma Coding in Figma
