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MIRO / PRODUCT DESIGN
Enhancing Miro's file management
Bringing order to chaos by adding a nested folder structure
MIRO / PRODUCT DESIGN
A project overview
MY ROLE
End-to-end product designer
TIMELINE
x6 weeks: Mid 2023
WHAT I BUILT
Added x3 layers of folder hierarchy
within Miro projects
within Miro projects
PROJECT TYPE
Self-initiated
TOOLS
Figma
Otter.AI
Adobe Suite
Google Workspace
Otter.AI
Adobe Suite
Google Workspace
PROJECT LINKS
CONTRIBUTORS
x2 Mentors (Smartsheet)
SPECIAL CONSTRAINTS
• Working with short x6 week timeline
• Had to get resourceful with research, relying on Miro forum comments
• No access to internal company data
• Had to get resourceful with research, relying on Miro forum comments
• No access to internal company data
OVERALL CHALLENGE
Miro’s flat file organization system makes it difficult to organize boards
THE GOAL: Give users the tools they need to locate and organize boards in a way that scales as teams grow
THE GOAL: Give users the tools they need to locate and organize boards in a way that scales as teams grow
PERSONAL PROJECT CONNECTION
This project applies my personal productivity obsession to solve a widespread problem for Miro based teams
KEY RESULTS
• 100% (5/5) test users completed core folder and board tasks in under 2 minutes
• 80% (4/5) said it would make finding boards easier in daily workflows
• Miro has added a similar nested folder feature to its roadmap (not yet delivered)
THE OUTCOME
Taming Miro's chaos with x3 layers of nested folders
My nested folder solution, sparked by a 1,400+ upvote Miro forum thread, makes finding boards easier, with 80% of test users in vocal agreement.
Before: Difficult to find boards
Dozens of boards pile up; difficult to manage.
After: x3 layers of folders added
Boards grouped into folders; much faster to find.
Market validation: This problem later landed on Miro's official roadmap
THE PROBLEM
The havoc of a flat Miro hierarchy
A growing mess of boards, files and projects turns "team brainstorms" into an endless chore of searching and manual organization for growing orgs.
Miro forum: #3 most requested feature
As the third most requested feature on Miro's own user forums this issue has remained unfixed for over three years.
Competitors have already solved this
Direct competitors like Mural, Whimsical and FigJam already provide a nested folder structure giving them a clear advantage.
“We just purchased Miro for our entire organization (150 seats)... and it's going to get messy without this feature. I'm worried that it might discourage uptake within the company.”
- Anton T. / Miro Forum Comment
The problem: user POV
• Time is wasted searching for existing work.
• Workspaces feel chaotic and unprofessional.
• It's impossible to create a scalable system.
The problem: business POV
• It undermines the brand efficiency promise.
• It hands a major advantage to competitors.
• It creates a barrier to adoption at larger orgs.
THE SOLUTION: FINAL FEATURE WALKTHROUGH
Meet Taylor, a project manager drowning in boards
Her team's projects have become an overwhelming collection of files that are hurting their overall productivity, so she's eager to try out nested folders.
FINAL UI
STEP 1: She needs to find a specific board
FINAL UI
STEP 2: She starts by looking in one of our newly added project folders
FINAL UI
STEP 3: She can’t find it, so it’s on to search
FINAL UI
STEP 4: She scopes her search to a folder within a project
FINAL UI
STEP 5: Success! she finds the board she needs
FINAL UI
STEP 6: Oops! looks like she needs to move some boards
FINAL UI
STEP 7: So she drag & drops them into the correct folder
Want to see this feature set in action?
View Prototype >
DISCOVERY & RESEARCH
Fast-tracking: mining Miro's forums for user insights
With a compressed timeline of just x6 weeks, I bypassed traditional interviews and mined Miro's own feature request forums, saving over a week of time and gathering direct user feedback.
1400+ Upvotes
158 Comments
29,000 Views
Key discoveries from research
Unmanageable & declining usability
Projects with 5-7+ boards turn chaotic, especially in large orgs with 60+ boards. Users call it “unusable,” craving intuitive structure to tame the sprawl.
PROOF: 20+ forum comments calling for subfolders.
Hindrance to companies as they scale
Poor organization deters larger org uptake. Users fear wasted licenses as cluttered boards hinder company-wide adoption, per forum gripes.
PROOF: 5+ forum comments flagged this as a blocker.
Users resorting to clunky workarounds
No native folders force “unscalable” workarounds, like sticky-note directories. Users lament high-maintenance hacks, craving seamless organization.
PROOF: 8+ comments mention currently using workarounds.
Folders outshine tags for clarity
Users say tags lack discoverability. Rigid folder hierarchies build clearer mental models, simplifying permissions for large orgs’ knowledge bases.
PROOF: 10+ comments stressed tags need to be secondary to folders.
“With just tags, I wouldn't be able to help my employees understand the structure I use to think about our daily operations.”
- Adam K. / Miro Forum Comment
Deep cuts: unfiltered insights from research
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
AFFINITY MAP: EXAMPLE 1
AFFINITY MAP: EXAMPLE 2
Adaptive problem-solving in ambiguous environments
Making trade-offs under pressure
My experience as a freelancer has taught me to be pragmatic and make strategic trade-offs when faced with tight deadlines.
With a traditional interview process being a luxury I couldn’t afford, I instead used Miro’s public forums as a faster, more direct source for a wealth of user feedback.
This approach allowed me to save a significant amount of time while ensuring the solution was validated by a broad user base.
My methods & key questions
FORUM ANALYSIS:
• How are users describing their pain points and what do they use as workarounds?
• How many layers of hierarchy is appropriate?
• How do I need to approach folders vs. tags and do I need to investigate further regarding permissions?
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Competitor Analysis - Heuristic Evaluation
• What are the industry standards and how do competitors approach this problem?
From insights to strategy: preparing for ideation
My three goals:
• 1. FRAMING: Map research insights into specific feature sets to define next steps.
• 2. GROUNDING: Ground all designs in established UI pattern best practices for immediate usability.
• 3. SYNTHESIZING: Synthesize all user needs to serve as a "north star" for the project.
STORY MAPPING
COMPETITOR SOLUTIONS: GOOGLE DRIVE
COMPETITOR SOLUTIONS: WHIMSICAL
RESEARCH SUMMARIZED: KEY USER NEEDS
Activities & outputs
Miro Forum Analysis
Affinity Maps
Heuristic Evaluation
Competitive Analysis
EXPLORATION: IA, SKETCHING & WIREFRAMES
Integrating UI design patterns: adjacent solutions & the competition
Along with competitor solutions, I drew deep inspiration from Google Drive and Dropbox — platforms that set the standard for intuitive file navigation, from everyday consumers to enterprise teams.
Sketching: x6 key areas to focus on
SKETCHING: SIDEBAR NAV + BREADCRUMB NAV
SKETCHING: SEARCH BAR
SKETCHING: MULTI-SELECT TOOLBAR
SKETCHING: STARRED SECTION
SKETCHING: RECENT SECTION
SKETCHING: BOARD & LIST VIEWS
Activities & outputs
Flow Maps
Sketches
Mid-Fi Wireframes
PROTOTYPING & USABILITY TESTING
Weeding out usability issues & digging into search
Moving into testing, the biggest goals were to look for any mismatched user expectations & to get a better grasp on how search vs. browse was playing out.
Core questions: testing remotely with x5 users
I built a mid-fi prototype and was looking to answer:
• EXPECTATIONS: Does this new folder architecture match the way users expect it to work?
• FRICTION: What happens when users interact with search, and where are the pain points?
• CONTEXT: Have I implemented the hierarchy tools in all the right places where users will actually need them most?
Impactful change 1: multi-select interaction bar
BEFORE: The multi-select bar sat at the very top of the window.
AFTER: I moved it directly above folders and boards.
WHY THE CHANGE? One tester took 25+ seconds to connect the two areas. Moving the bar improved efficiency and aligned with the user need for faster retrieval.
BEFORE: MULTI-SELECT TOOLBAR - TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE ACTION
AFTER: MULTI-SELECT TOOLBAR - MOVED CLOSER TO BOARD SELECTION
Impactful change 2: project & folder breadcrumb nav headings
BEFORE: 40% of testers were confused by duplicate labels — a breadcrumb trail plus a project / folder title.
AFTER: I simplified the layout using a more familiar Google Drive style pattern.
WHY THE CHANGE? This clarified hierarchy and met the core need for clear organization.
BEFORE: 40% OF USERS CONFUSED BY HEADING + BREADCRUMB NAV
AFTER: USED SIMPLER HEADING NAV BORROWED FROM GOOGLE DRIVE
Other key updates: drag & drop / search
Addition of drag & drop (80%)
WHAT: 4/5 users tried to drag and drop files during tests unprompted. There was a clear expectation that multi-selecting would be accompanied by drag and drop.
CHANGE: Drag and drop functionality was added.
Board finding started in search (60%)
WHAT: 3/5 users started out looking for boards via search (vs. browsing).
CHANGE: Previously searching could be scoped to projects only. Now users can scope search to any of the x4 hierarchy layers (project or x3 folders).
Key testing results
100%
Overall task success rate
All x5 participants successfully completed the core file management tasks, including creating new folders and moving multiple boards.
IMPACT: This proves the new information architecture and Ul patterns are intuitive and have a low learning curve for existing Miro users.
100%
Positive user sentiment
Every participant (5/5) independently described the new folder system as "intuitive" or" straightforward" during post-test interviews.
IMPACT: This unanimous positive feedback confirms the design successfully addresses the core user frustration of a disorganized workspace.
Activities & outputs
Figma Prototype
Remote User Tests (x5 Users)
A QUICK GUIDE TO WHAT I CHANGED
Before & after: comparing old with the new
A truly successful design had to serve two goals; creating an interface that felt intuitive for one person, while building a structural foundation robust enough to support a growing, collaborative organization.
x3 layers of nested folders
BEFORE: Projects only
AFTER: Projects + x3 folder layers
Integration of in-folder search
BEFORE: Search within projects only
AFTER: Search at per folder level
Multi-select + drag & drop
BEFORE: Only select single boards
AFTER: Multi-select + drag & drop boards
Updated starred section
BEFORE: Only contains boards
AFTER: Projects + folders + boards
IMPACT
Taming chaos: The end of Miro's file organization woes
I built a solution for Miro's third-highest requested feature, (with over 1,400 upvotes) and enabled 100% of test users (5/5) to complete core file management tasks in under two minutes.
Key Results: An Overview
100% task completion in under 2 minutes
All x5 testers completed file management tasks with no errors — proof the feature was highly intuitive and fast to learn and use.
IMPACT: Major time savings compared to endlessly hunting in a flat file structure.
Market Validation: Added to Miro's roadmap
Months later, the thread on this feature was moved to "In Development" on Miro's roadmap — the problem was a company priority.
IMPACT: validated I was working on a strategically aligned solution.
80% say this makes finding boards easier
4 / 5 testers said the new tools made finding boards significantly easier in their daily workflows and were enthusiastic about the solution.
IMPACT: Reduces frustration and lowers the risk of users abandoning for competitors.
"Being able to pull your team's action items, share them, you're just eliminating such like a communication backlog..."
"It just saves you so much time from having to find all of those action items, write the email, send it out, etc."
- Erin T. - Startup COO
“I think it's easier if companies keep it more organized like this. Our current Miro setup is quite the mess… it's now like 80 or something boards under one project.””
- Phillip R. / Software Engineer
REFLECTION
An exercise in adaptability: delivering a scalable solution under pressure
And that's a wrap: an exercise in resourcefulness
This project was a masterclass in pragmatic problem-solving. Under a tight deadline, I honed my ability to be resourceful, validate early, and scope intelligently. I proved that even without insider access, a powerful solution can be designed by keeping users at the center.
In my next role, I’ll bring the same adaptive approach to turn ambiguity into measurable value for the business and its users.
Learning valuable lessons
Aligning research with project constraints intelligently
I pivoted from interviews to analyzing Miro’s feature request forums.
This trade-off sped up discovery and surfaced, user feedback a typical plan might have missed.
Trusting actions over words via careful observation during tests
In testing, 80% of users instinctively tried drag-and-drop — even though it didn’t exist.
That behavior revealed a hidden need and drove a more intuitive design.
Strategic outlook: performance metrics & feature exploration
Business impact: reducing churn
I’d track average time-to-find-boards as a proxy for productivity.
Success would be a link between faster retrieval and lower churn — proving the value of scalable organization for large teams.
Complementing hierarchy with tags
Next, I’d explore tags that complement folders — giving users flexible ways to organize and filter content.
This addresses a frequent forum request for a more robust system.
I'd love to chat about how I might align with your team's goals!
Feel free to email blutjens@gmail.com or connect on Linkedin.
ContactFeel free to email blutjens@gmail.com or connect on Linkedin.
Check out my other work!
