PRODUCT DESIGN · GEN AI · UX

Wix Portfolio: AI Image Clustering

Millions of Wix users across the globe showcase their work online using beautiful portfolio sites. By constantly reviewing data and user feedback, we knew that building a portfolio is traditionally a high-friction, time consuming process - especially for new users. Creators are often overwhelmed by the manual labor of sorting through years of unorganized files and writing copy for every project.

We caught the GenAI wave early, recognizing that machine learning could solve this tedious workflow and take portfolios live in a fraction of the time. That drove us to launch AI Image Clustering in May 2024, revolutionizing our portfolio suite.

︎ Press release

Recognizing the need

The initial setup of a portfolio site is where most users dropped off - our data showed a clear need to streamline the creation process by eliminating manual, repetitive tasks so users could see value instantly. We knew we had a unique opportunity to integrate AI seamlessly and naturally within the product - it was a chance to create a magical "wow" moment where the heavy lifting was completely done for the user, leaving them with a finished foundation they could simply tweak if they wanted to. By tackling this core user frustration at the top of our funnel, we aimed to directly boost our main product KPIs: total projects created and sites published with a portfolio.

The Solution: AI Image Clustering

To eliminate the painful sorting phase entirely, I designed a seamless setup experience within the Wix Backoffice: users can simply drop a large, completely unorganized batch of images into a single upload area with no pre-sorting required.

Our AI quickly analyzes the visual context of the images to identify relevant categories tailored specifically to portfolio sites. By combining this visual analysis with any initial description or data the user provided in the first step of the flow, the system instantly clusters the assets into distinct projects, complete with automatically generated contextual titles and descriptions.

A major hurdle we faced was designing a flow that convinced users to upload a massive project library right away, instead of them just "testing" the feature with a small batch of a few random photos.

Earning that level of user trust so early in a flow was incredibly difficult, which is why creating a seamless, low-friction upload state paired with immediate visual feedback was so critical to proving the AI’s accuracy right off the bat. Our initial approach to this was to use accurate copy, as well as allow users to go back and add more images to analyze.

At the same time, it was crucial for us to give users a strong sense of ownership despite the automated generation. To balance the AI's efficiency with human control, we integrated inline text editing and a simple drag & drop mechanism for rearranging images. Giving users this high level of flexibility right before leaving the flow was key, ensuring they could quickly make minor adjustments and finish with the most optimal, personal result.

Strong Post-Setup Demand

When we launched the first phase of this feature, we focused purely on new portfolios, meaning the clustering flow was only exposed during a user's initial onboarding setup. This was done intentionally as it was the fastest way to bring this capability to users and see how they responsed to it.

We quickly began hearing from users asking to access this feature post-setup so they could continue to cluster and add more projects even after the initial creation. This feedback from our community was a strong indication that the experience wasn't just a novelty, but something that brought sustained, repeatable value to their workflow and served as a clear roadmap going forward.

Supercharging SEO with One-Click Alt Text

During our initial research and user feedback cycles, we identified another major hidden pain point: creators want their work to be discoverable, but rarely have the time or SEO know-how to write optimal Alt-text for dozens of images.

Recognizing this gap, we quickly implemented and launched automated Alt-text generation alongside our new AI Image Custering feature. With a single click, users can instantly equip their entire asset library with context aware and SEO optimized descriptions. This turned a tedious optimization chore into a frictionless, one-second victory that drastically improves their site's Google search rankings.

This feature was then fully integrated in Wix’s existing SEO Wizard suite.

Moving the needle

By transforming a daunting content-management chore into a smart, automated workflow, we successfully removed one of the primary barriers to portfolio adoption. The feature significantly moved the needle for our core business metrics, resulting in a substantial lift in both projects created and the total number of live published sites utilizing Wix Portfolio and was quickly opened to all users.