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How To Write a Great Design Case Study

Case studies are often seen as documentation. But they can be more than that — digestible, thorough stories that showcase skills, values and process. Here are some examples to refer to when writing one.

How do we write a great design case study? I’ve put together some practical guides, examples and do’s and don’ts on how to stand out.

Key Takeaways #

  • Think of a case study like a magazine feature.
  • Keep a case study digestible, thorough and a story.
  • Choose a customer that represents your scope of work.
  • Promote the skills that you want to be hired for.
  • Focus on insights rather than process.
  • Show your intention and your values.
  • Use the language that your future clients will understand.
  • Teach readers something they don’t already know.

Creating Slack's illustration voice

A fantastic example: Creating Slack's illustrations , neatly put together by Alice Lee.

I absolutely love diving into case studies that highlight wrong assumptions and failures, explaining how designers managed to turn the ship towards a better outcome. It’s a wonderful way to understand how a designer thinks, and that how they learn and adapt along the way.

Don’t be afraid to show your mistakes, and tell honest stories that your prospect clients can connect to. Probably the worst thing you could do is to create a polished, soulless, marketing version of your work that is too perfect to be true.

Authenticity and enthusiasm always shine through. Don’t hide them, and people will notice how incredible you are.

Design Case Study Examples and Guides #

A Complete Guide To Case Study Design , by Fabricio Teixeira, Caio Braga

Creating Slack's illustration voice , by Alice Lee

Reimagine the future of TV , by Abdus Salam

Designing Urban Walks , by Anton Repponen

Case Study Club , a curated hub by Jan Haaland

A Guide To Case Studies for Designers , by Jenny Kowalski

How to Write Project Case Studies For Your Portfolio , by Tobias van Schneider

Tips to Structuring Case Studies , by Lillian Xiao

How to Write Great UX Case Studies , by Yu Siang Teo

How To Write A Case Study For Your Design Portfolio

How To Write Trust-Building Case Studies (+ Templates) , by Elise Dopson

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Good Case Study

How to Create Case Studies Without Any Past Projects

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How to write the perfect web design case study to win more clients

An immersive digital portfolio is the key to landing new clients. Learn how to show off your skills with a winning web design case study.

writing a design case study

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writing a design case study

A design portfolio without case studies is like a movie with no dialogue — visually present but lacking the substance needed to convey its full meaning.

Dialogue and case studies both communicate meaning. Without dialogue, audiences struggle to understand a film’s plot, characters, and themes, similar to how clients will struggle to understand the problem you solved, your design process, and the impact of your work without a thorough case study.

When you’re competing against other designers for a project or role, a well-written web design case study sets your portfolio apart , showing potential clients what you’ve done and what you’re capable of.

What is a case study?

A case study is an in-depth investigation into a person or group of people, a situation, event, or a product. A web design case study is a visual and textual analysis of a successful web platform, landing page , website design, or other web-based product. These types of case studies can be physical documents, but they’re often digital: PDFs, infographics, blog posts, or videos. Screenshots are an essential component, as are wireframes and mockups. But a robust web design case study also features detailed written explanations.

These visual and written elements work together to create a comprehensive assessment of the design process from start to finish, including the challenges faced, the solutions implemented, and the results achieved.

5 benefits of web design case studies

Now that we’ve touched on how case studies sell prospective clients on your work, here are a few other benefits of adding web design case studies to your portfolio website:

1. Demonstrate expertise

Case studies are a powerful marketing tool for designers to demonstrate their capabilities to potential clients or employers. A good web design case study showcases your skills and expertise in solving complex design problems.

2. Build credibility

In case studies, designers often include the name of the business, client, or project they’ve worked on, building credibility by providing real-world examples of their past work. You can even add testimonials and reviews to highlight positive feedback directly from those you’ve worked with.

3. Inspire future projects

Examining and analyzing your own work can inspire your next website build — maybe you’ll try one of the layouts that was nixed for this project or center the next design around an element you ended up loving. It also provides guidance and best practices for design projects, setting the bar for innovative design.

4. Encourage personal growth

Writing an investigation of your own design portfolio pieces after completing a project provides an excellent avenue for self-reflection. Reflecting on past projects, the struggles you’ve faced working on them, and what you’ve learned from the process will help you identify your strengths as a designer and areas of improvement to work on.

5. Improve communication

Presentations of your own work don’t just communicate the design process, decisions, and outcomes to clients. They also speak to stakeholders, including clients, team members, and management. A well-written case study illustrates a designer’s ability to effectively communicate complex design ideas and concepts, and writing it will improve your communication skills and offer insight into how effectively you work and collaborate with others.

What makes an effective web design case study?

A web design case study describes the process you took to solve a challenge with a particular web design project. A successful case study features a notable client project, a well-written narrative structure, and an engaging visual design.

Think of it as a story with an identifiable beginning, middle, and end. Throughout the story, show clients your approach to successful web design — the problem, the research you did to prepare for the project, the steps and iterations you completed throughout the process, and the final results you delivered. This narrative structure helps clients understand the project’s evolution and details your design process, making it key to an effective case study.

Case study curation and criteria

We’ve covered the basics of what a good case study looks like. But how do you determine which projects to include? If a project meets all the following criteria, it’s a good candidate for a detailed case study.

Is it relevant to the future projects you hope to explore?

If there’s a type of project you’ve completed in the past that you’d like to avoid in the future, that particular portfolio piece might not be a great option for a case study. You’re not just trying to sell yourself to clients — you’re trying to land jobs you actually want to do.

Does it have a defined initial problem?

Web design projects often arise as a result of a problem. These projects are perfect for case studies because the product design goes beyond appearance and functionality. Here are some of the issues your designs might solve:

  • Poor user experience: To create a smooth, enjoyable experience for users, user experience (UX) design focuses on identifying and solving issues that cause frustration, confusion, or difficulty while using an app or a website, such as confusing navigation, misleading icons, or slow load times. Addressing these challenges lets you showcase your understanding of your target audience’s needs and demonstrates your ability to apply your creative and technical skills to solve them.
  • Low search engine ranking: Redesigning a website with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind will improve its ranking in the search engine results pages, and you’ll have metrics to include in your case study to quantify the claims you’re making.
  • Inconsistent branding: Brand design is a massive part of a company’s identity. A lack of alignment between the logo, colors , and other visual elements of a brand’s identity and its digital assets reflects negatively on the company, leaving customers with more questions than answers about who’s behind the brand. Good web design can bring a sense of cohesion to the company’s digital products, an achievement you can speak to in your case studies.

Does the outcome deliver measurable success?

Good design is subjective, but the best projects for case studies have data to show how successful they are. Search engine ranking is one example. You might also highlight impressive metrics for user engagement (bounce rate, time spent on the site), conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who make a purchase or fill out a form), or web traffic (the number of visitors to the website).

Is the project visually suitable for presentation?

When preparing a web design case study, consider the various formats it can be presented in, such as a video, static webpages, or interactive web content.

Selecting projects that fit your chosen presentation format is essential to showcasing your web design skills. As a web designer, it’s a given that whatever you’re presenting to potential clients needs to use thoughtful, aesthetically pleasing designs.

Design for display

There’s no single right way to present a case study. What’s most important is that your case study tells the story of the journey from an initial problem or idea to a finished product that meets the client’s needs.

A minimalist design will help you achieve this goal. But don’t confuse minimalist with boring. You can (and should) get clever with the presentation. Instead of using basic screenshots, for example, consider exhibiting your work in modern frames with immersive features. Or display screenshots of the product in its natural habitat. Webflow designer Karen Huang uses a digital screen in this user experience case study to feature a screenshot of the user interface (UI) on a smartphone screen just as users would experience it:

Mockup of a laundry app in a smartphone-inspired frame.

Build completely custom, production-ready websites — or ultra-high-fidelity prototypes — without writing a line of code. Only with Webflow.

How do you structure a case study?

The contents of every web design case study will vary, but they should all follow this basic structure:

1. A challenge

Webpage presenting client information, statistics, calls to action, and a screenshot of the company’s website.

Start your case study with an introduction to your client and the problem your design solved. Include details about the project’s context, goals, and constraints. This section sets the stage for the rest of the case study and ensures the readers clearly understand what the project — and your solution — is all about.

2. A solution

Webpage featuring four mockups of different sections of a website.

Detail your approach to solving the challenge introduced in the previous section. Include information about your research, its methodology, and the data you gathered to develop your solution. Focus on your skills, not diagnostics — this is the place to showcase your intelligent approach, reasoning, and innovative ideas that ultimately resolve the challenge.

For this section, it’s helpful to break each key resolution into separate paragraphs and introduce images in chronological order to detail your design process. Screenshots of wireframes and strategy phases will paint a vivid picture of the project’s journey.

If you face any challenges or roadblocks while designing your solution, discussing them provides insight into your problem-solving skills and shows potential clients how you overcome difficulties. End this section with multiple pictures of the final product, and be sure to include a direct link to the project for potential clients and employers to peruse.

3. The impact

Alt text: Webpage featuring project impact metrics and a photograph of two women laughing.

This section is where you’ll highlight metrics and data that back up the project’s success. Leverage metrics, user feedback, or whatever data is available to illustrate how your solution solved your client’s challenges and achieved the project’s goals. You can also include information about the potential longitudinal impact of your work and future opportunities for the project.

4. Key quotes

Webpage featuring a client pull quote and two photographs of product prototypes.

A case study is a perfect place to share client testimonials and add quotes from team members to help readers learn what the experts behind the project think about the build. Get creative but use quotes sparingly, sprinkling them throughout the case study to support the image or project stage the quote relates to.

Let your work do the talking

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Soft Skills

How to Write a Case Study

In product design, case studies are crucial for showcasing a design project’s process, decisions, and outcomes. They provide valuable insights into the designer’s problem-solving abilities, creative thinking, and overall design approach. 

If you’re a product designer trying to learn how to write a case study, you’ve come to the right place. This article will explore the key steps and components of crafting a compelling case study that effectively communicates your design process and its results. So, let’s dive in and learn how to master writing a case study.

Why are case studies necessary?

Case studies are an essential part of product design. They help you gain valuable insights, hone your problem-solving skills, validate your design decisions, build trust with clients (and other design team members), and enrich your portfolio. So, knowing how to write a case study is a must for every high-profile product designer.

A well-written case study serves as evidence for the effectiveness of design decisions. Designers can substantiate their design solutions by explaining the research conducted, user insights gathered, and the rationale behind design choices. 

This validation instills confidence in potential clients, stakeholders, and team members, helping them recognize the value and impact of your work.Knowing how to write a case study is vital for product designers because it allows them to communicate their design process, decisions, and outcomes effectively.

When following best practices in case study writing, designers can structure their narratives, incorporate visuals, personalize the content, and present their work clearly and engagingly.

Define your target audience.

To learn how to write a case study, you need to define your target audience first. Defining your target audience before writing a case study in product design is crucial for several reasons. 

Knowing your target audience helps you customize the content of your case study to suit their specific needs, interests, and expectations. Different audiences may have diverse technical knowledge, industry expertise, or familiarity with design processes . By understanding your audience, you can adapt your writing style, level of detail, and terminology to ensure the case study resonates with them.

Identifying your target audience allows you to address their pain points and concerns directly in your case study. By understanding their challenges, goals, and priorities, you can emphasize how your design solution effectively addresses them. 

If you want to know how to write a case study, you must obtain a targeted approach toward your audience and learn how to increase their engagement. Each audience group may seek different insights or perspectives from a case study.

Potential clients might be interested in understanding how your design approach can benefit their business, while fellow designers may focus more on your design methodology and creative solutions. By defining your target audience, you can tailor your case study’s insights and key takeaways to meet their expectations. 

Finally, learning how to write a case study and defining your target audience helps you make informed decisions regarding the structure, tone, and presentation of your case study. Understanding your audience guides your decision-making process, ensuring your case study effectively communicates the intended message.

How to structure your case study?

If you want to know how to write a case study successfully, it’s necessary to structure it. A well-structured case study ensures clarity and coherence throughout the narrative.

A coherent and professionally written case study contains the following:

Introduction

Start with a concise project overview, including the client or company name, industry, teammates, project duration, and significance.

Problem Statement

Clearly define the problem or challenge you aimed to address through your design. Explain the context and why it was essential to find a solution.

Research and Discovery

Describe the research methodologies, why you chose them, the data you collected, and insights gained during the exploration phase. Highlight any user interviews, surveys, or competitive analyses conducted to inform your design process.

Design Process

Walk through the various stages of your design process, from ideation to prototyping and testing. Explain the rationale behind your design decisions, emphasizing how you aligned them with the user’s needs and goals.

Implementation

Present your final design solution, providing visual representations such as sketches, wireframes, or renderings. Discuss any challenges encountered during implementation and how you overcame them.

Evaluate the outcomes of your design solution. Showcase quantitative and qualitative data that support the success of your project. Highlight any improvements, user feedback, or business metrics that demonstrate the impact of your design.

Reflect on the key takeaways from the project. Discuss the lessons you learned as a designer and how they influenced your future work.

Highlight the design process.

Designers who know how to write a case study always try to share and explain their design process. So, when writing a case study, discuss the steps you took, mention your employed methodologies, and explain the rationale behind your decisions. When you provide insight into your design thinking, you showcase your problem-solving abilities and demonstrate how you arrived at the final solution. 

Such transparency helps people who will read your case study understand your approach and the depth of your work.

So, if you’re trying to learn how to write a case study, you must know how to present your design process. So, start by dividing your design process into distinct stages or phases. This could include UX research , ideation, prototyping, testing, and implementation. Let each stage represent a crucial step toward finding a solution.

Don’t include steps, methodologies, or deliverables unless they were helpful and valuable for your process. For example, not every case study needs an empathy map if you have never used it in your process besides just creating it to check it off your “to-do” list.

Moreover, describe how you generated ideas and concepts based on your research findings. Discuss any brainstorming sessions, sketching, or other techniques you employed. Explain the thought process behind each design concept and why you (and your team) selected specific ideas to move forward.

Explain how you transformed your ideas into actual prototypes. Discuss the tools you used to create prototypes and how you iterated on them based on user feedback. Also, remember to emphasize the importance of testing and refining your design through multiple iterations.

And finally, present the final design solution. Share the details of your final design solution and include visual representations such as sketches or wireframes to help readers visualize your design.

Add visual elements to your case study.

Every designer who knows how to write a case study always includes visual elements. Images, sketches, screenshots, or diagrams effectively convey your design process. Ensure that these visuals are high-quality, relevant, and add value to the study. They should support and enhance the written content, making it easier for the reader to comprehend and engage with your case study.

Moreover, visual elements can showcase the evolution of your design over time. Include sketches or early concept drawings to demonstrate the initial ideas and how they developed through the iterative design process. That will allow readers to witness the progression and understand the decision-making behind the final design solution.

Lastly, to learn how to write a case study, you must know that visual elements make your case study more interactive and immersive. They capture the reader’s interest and keep them engaged throughout the narrative.

Embed a Figma prototype (if possible)

Our supercharged tip on how to write a case study is to embed a Figma prototype of your project in your case study whenever applicable. 

A Figma prototype allows you to visually showcase your design project’s user interface, interactions, and user flow. Instead of describing these aspects solely through text or static images, the interactive prototype brings your design to life, giving readers a more comprehensive and tangible representation of your work. It enables you to communicate user interactions and rationale more efficiently. 

By including a Figma prototype, you provide readers with an interactive experience. They can navigate the prototype, interact with its functionalities, and learn how the design works.

This tip can be particularly impactful when applying for jobs!

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Design challenges workbook.

Learn by doing – real briefs, immersive projects, and expert tips! ⚡️ Solve  genuine problems  that you can use to fill your portfolio.

Additional tips on how to write a case study

There are more tips on writing a case study that will highlight the whole process and make the key takeaways stand out. For example, one of the best tips for writing a case study is a bit expected: use a narrative writing style. 

With the help of storytelling, you’ll take your readers on a journey from the initial challenge to the final solution. But remember to maintain the right balance between storytelling and providing concise content. To achieve such balance, maintain a professional tone, but avoid using overly informal language or slang that may detract from the credibility of your work.

Finally, one of the best tips on how to write a case study is to personalize it. While templates you can find online provide a useful starting point, it’s crucial to personalize and tailor them to your specific project. Avoid blindly following a template without adapting it to your unique situation.

Each project is distinct, and your case study should reflect that individuality. Personalization allows you to convey your thought process, problem-solving skills, and design decisions more authentically.

By standing out from the rest of the templated case studies and portfolios, you will improve your chances of landing a desired client or a job.

Congratulations – now you know how to write a case study! 

Writing a compelling case study in product design requires careful planning, organization, and a clear understanding of your target audience. Following the steps from this guide, you can create a comprehensive and compelling case study showcasing your design process, decisions, and outcomes. 

But remember – personalize templates to suit your unique situation and emphasize the importance of adapting them to your needs. 

If you wish to advance your product design career, check out our Design Challenges Workbook , which will help you learn by doing. You’ll learn best practices, approaches, and how to think and work like a professional designer. 

For additional educational resources, make sure to follow us on Instagram.

Happy designing! 🥳

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A Space for Creative Growth

How to write case studies for your design portfolio

A good case study on your design portfolio is a great way to make it stand out. Here’s how to get it right

writing a design case study

Illustration: Yali Ziv

  • Jul 13, 2020

Putting a work process into words might cause some to break out in a light sweat, but just like the rest of a design portfolio , a case study is a chance to shine. The key to approaching such a task is by realizing that crafting the perfect case study isn’t that different from any other design work you do.

Here’s everything you need to know about writing good case studies, from how to structure them visually, to which details to include and more.

What is a design case study?

In a nutshell, the main aim of a case study is to tell the story of a specific project of yours. The text you write can put your design work into context and make it more fully understandable. Integrating images with text, a case study outlines the most important details of the process, from the brief you were given, to how you approached the task, to the final result. Incorporating case studies into your portfolio helps give potential clients or employers a look into how you work, what you’re good at and what your thought process is.

When making your online design portfolio, note that not every project requires a full case study. You can pick the projects you’re proudest of, giving you the chance to highlight your skills and explain what made the design so successful. Now that we’re on the same page, here’s our best advice:

Include the relevant details

To make sure you’ve covered all the relevant information, here’s a checklist of the main details to include. Note that these aren’t strict guidelines - it depends on how thorough you want to be and what you feel is important for your project.

1. Background info: If you were working with a client, include their name and what they do, plus the date and location in which the project took place. Also explain what your role was within the project (for example “Web Design,” “Branding” or “Art Direction”). If you worked in a team, credit the other people and list their roles. This is also the place to give a brief sentence on what the project actually is.

Example: See how designer Ariel Sun , introduces her rebranding project:

“The Human Project at NYU (THP) worked with the agency Ogilvy & Mather to redefine their brand and develop a new logomark. As THP's internal graphic designer, I applied that visual language to a variety of marketing & communications assets and fresh brand collateral.”

2. Goal: Briefly explain what the aim of the project was. You can base this on the design brief you worked with throughout the project.

Example: Design studio and Wix user, Run Wild , state the goal of their UX project:

“The challenge was to redesign a convoluted site into an action-oriented site that provides clear navigation and call to action.”

3. Design process: You can really decide how much you want to elaborate here. Keeping it short is also an option. Either way, the idea is to talk about the main stages you went through in the design process, which decisions you made and why, what your approach was, and any changes made throughout.

You can include some of the research you did and what your inspirations were. Don’t be afraid to mention any challenges you experienced or concepts that were later scrapped - as long as you keep a positive attitude and explain the reasoning behind the decisions, remember that it’s all part of the process.

4. Results: Here, present the final outcome and your main learnings. You can also write about how success was measured. For example, state whether all your client’s expectations were met (this can be in the form of client quotes if you like), or perhaps include stats you have about an increase in sales, or describe how part of your design was later used on a larger scale.

Example: In this case study about a redesign for a website, Ariel Sun explains the results:

“The result is an engaging and unexpected twist on a garden party that tells a clear story while still leaving room for the viewer’s imagination. After reviewing a set of submissions that included work from our very talented colleagues, Tattly picked this design and will elaborate it into a full-on marketing campaign.”

writing a design case study

Make it skimmable

We all know that we live in a time of short attention spans . Even when it comes to prospective clients or employers, they want to get a feel for your design project fairly quickly. That’s why you should make your case studies accessible, inviting and easy to grasp at first glance , both in terms of the design and the text itself.

The layout of the page should serve the storytelling process, revealing information in digestible, bite-sized chunks. Combine images with text cohesively, somewhat like the structure of a magazine or book. See how designer and Wix user, Brittney Johnson , separates the parts of her case study into drop-down sections, enabling you to focus on one point at a time.

Split up your text into paragraphs and add headers that will enable visitors to navigate easily from section to section. Consider emphasizing certain words by making them bold, changing their size or opting for a different color. Additionally, caption each image with a brief description, so that even people that aren’t into reading lengthy text can comprehend the context. It will also help make your design more accessible , offering your visually impaired site visitors an alternative understanding of the image.

In terms of the writing style, keep it concise and to the point . Use short sentences that explain exactly what you want to say, without repeating themselves just for the sake of sounding sophisticated. This doesn’t mean you need to sound robotic - you should still keep it personal and remember that at the end of the day, your target audience is humans.

writing a design case study

Write it like a (short) story

Just like in any other design project, a case study simply tells a story. And that’s exactly the way you should write it. It should have a structure, including a beginning, middle, and end, made up of all the relevant details (scroll up if you missed what those are). It’s not just random sentences placed one after the other, but rather, an outline of a process, generally written in chronological order.

writing a design case study

Maintain your tone of voice

On a similar note, remember that your case study describes your project, so feel free to let your individual personality shine through in your writing. Keep the same tone as in the rest of your design portfolio’s copy , in order to form a clear personal brand and consistent browsing experience.

You don’t need to be overly formal or use complex jargon, as this could just end up intimidating people. On the flip side, including jokes might be taking it a little too far. Simply focus on getting the point across succinctly and in your own language. As a result, the likelihood is that you’ll give your site visitors a better idea of who you are and where your specialty lies.

writing a design case study

The combination of text and images helps break it up into a story-like layout, resulting in a more immersive and engaging experience, which is why you should make sure not to only include visuals. Plus, text is great for your design portfolio’s SEO (search engine optimization), increasing your chance of ranking higher on search results.

writing a design case study

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Inside Design

How to write a UX case study

Sarah doody,   •   jul 19, 2019.

H ave you ever been told your UX portfolio lacks depth, or what you did is unclear, or that it doesn’t seem like you have enough experience, even though you know you do?

Or maybe you landed an in-person interview, it didn’t go very well because you stumbled through presenting and answering questions about your projects. 

These are all symptoms of an underlying problem: your UX case studies are not written well enough. 

After doing at least 100 hours of my own research through talking to UX candidates one-on-one, reviewing portfolios, and analyzing survey data, one thing became clear: UX professionals put too much emphasis on learning how to make deliverables, and not enough on articulating their design decisions. 

When you can’t articulate your design decisions, it will make your day to day role harder, because you won’t know how to deal with pushback. And it will also limit your career options because your ability to write a strong case study is the foundation for creating a strong portfolio and doing well in interviews.

We’re going to go into:

  • The role of case studies in your portfolio
  • The anatomy of a case study
  • The steps to writing a thorough, readable case study

Case studies are the UX application differentiator

It’s no longer enough to just show your work. According to the  Center Centre , the job growth of UX designers is expected to rise 22% over the next 10 years. UX is a hot field, and there’s a lot of competition. 

Your portfolio, therefore, can’t simply be a curation of sexy-looking deliverables. Recruiters and hiring managers need you to articulate your process and design decisions. A key skill for UX professionals is the ability to communicate; in any UX role, you’ll find yourself not just doing UX, but explaining it over and over. 

If you don’t have well-written UX case studies, then how can recruiters and hiring managers trust that you’ll be able to communicate what you did and why you did it if they hire you? 

Writing is a skill that we know is important, but as designers rarely practice or study enough. When it comes to UX case studies, though, the quality of your writing is one of the most important variables in the success of your portfolio.

Let’s be real, writing about your UX projects is not an easy task. However, the good news is that by following the steps that follow, you will clearly understand how to write more clearly.

Anatomy of a UX case study

When approaching your UX portfolio and case studies, my advice is to think like a lawyer. Because how do lawyers win legal cases? With strong communication, and even stronger evidence. 

The projects inside your portfolio are like evidence in a legal case. And that’s why you must choose the projects for your portfolio very carefully. 

Here’s what I recommend including in your UX case study:

  • Problem statement
  • Users and audience
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Scope and constraints
  • Process and what you did
  • Outcomes and lessons

Want to download a copy of this template? Sign up for Sarah Doody’s newletter and get a free download.

How to write your ux case study.

As you write your case studies, don’t worry about length. Once you get it all on paper you can decide what to put into your portfolio. As you transition your written case studies to something more visual, you will edit them down and also consider how some of the text can be communicated visually.

Step 1. Give your project a title

The big mistake that people make is not giving the project title enough detail when a strong title can give context for the project.

Good: Home Depot user research for mobile app checkout

So-so: Home Depot user research

Bad: Home Depot

Step 2. Write an outline

Lay out your thoughts before you start giving up the details. An outline’s purpose is to help you understand the “big picture” of your project, so you can decide how to structure your case study or if the project is big enough to merit more than one case study.

Start your outline with the seven sections listed above, and start filling in bullet points under each section. Don’t worry about sentence structure; just write and get it out of your head. If you’ve been  documenting your projects as you work on them , then you may have some of this already written.

Step 3. Fill in the details

Now that you have an outline and you see the big picture, you can start filling in details. 

Give the “Process and what you did” section the bulk of your effort. This is where you’ll document the steps you took, just like documenting science experiments in high school. 

You should be answering these questions:

  • What did you do? For example, what research method did you use?
  • Why did you do it?  For example, why did you choose that research method?
  • What was the result?  For example, did you achieve your research goals?
  • What did you learn? For example, what would you do differently next time?

Continuing with our (completely fictional) Home Depot example:

BAD: “ We did usability testing on the checkout of the Home Depot mobile app.”

Why is this weak? Because it only tells the reader what you did. It doesn’t address why you did it, what happened, and what you learned.

GOOD: To evaluate the new checkout on the Home Depot mobile app, we relied on usage metrics in conjunction with 8 usability tests. This allowed us to gain deeper understanding through combining both qualitative and quantitative information. Although users were able to get through the checkout more quickly, they continued to struggle with the shipping section. Discussions with users discussion revealed that often times, products in one order have different shipping addresses, which was possible, but difficult in the current checkout.

This version is much stronger because it goes beyond just talking about what was done. Providing this depth is what will set you apart; articulating your design decisions and process will help position you as a more mature and thoughtful professional.

Step 4. Write headlines

At this point, you’re probably thinking something like “Who would ever read this novel?” Which is a good point. That’s why the next step will help you start to distill everything down so that you are focusing on the key highlights of the story.

The best way to do this is to pretend that you have to write your case study only in tweets. It sounds crazy, but it works.

For each section of the outline we’re working with, write a single headline or sentence—except for the Process section, where you’ll be focusing your energies. For the Process section, you’ll want to have a headline for each step. Using our previous fictitious Home Depot user research example, some of the headlines for the Process section might be:

  • Step: What type of research you did and why you did it. Example: Analytics revealed customers struggled, and sometimes abandoned, checkout at the shipping section. To understand why, we conducted eight usability tests.
  • Step: Findings from the research. Usability tests revealed that business customers, versus residential, had different shipping needs, which were not being addressed in the current checkout experience.
  • Step: Impact of research on product development. We prototyped two new versions of the checkout, allowing customers to choose shipping address on a per-product basis.

By sticking to a 140 character limit, you’ll force yourself to identify the most important points of the case study—which will then become headlines when you create your actual portfolio. 

A good way to test whether or not you have strong headlines is to ask yourself if someone would understand the main points of your project by skimming the headlines. If not, then re-write your headlines—because if you want the users of your UX portfolio to quickly understand your project, those are the most important points.

Step 5. Distill the text from your case study into your actual portfolio

Regardless of the format you choose for your portfolio , your writing needs to be clear and succinct. 

It won’t happen in one edit! Let’s say you’re working in Keynote with slides, your process will look like this:

  • Take the headlines you wrote and place one headline per slide in Keynote. 
  • Consider that you might merge some bits of information into one slide. For example, you might combine your overview and problem statement. It’s subjective, so you decide! 
  • Now, you need to go back and start to pull the most important and relevant details from your case study and put them on each slide, as supporting details or evidence. 

Examples in action

Simon Pan’s UX portfolio website went viral because he had awesome case studies. Yes, he’s also a visual designer so it looks beautiful. But what you need to focus on is the content. His Uber case study is an excellent example, let’s take a look at why it works:

  • Clear problem and framing of the project. Simon’s case study clearly states the problem and frames the project. So even if I’d never heard of Uber before, I’d have enough context to understand the project.
  • Explanation of the process. Simon does this with a story. It’s easy to read and keeps my attention. It feels like a cool article that’s well thought out … not to mention the visual design helps draw key points out. In the screenshot below, he is explaining part of the Discovery process. It sounds like I’m reading an article, therefore it keeps my attention. And the use of a user research quote helps bring the story to life even more.
  • Thoughtful conclusions and reflection. At the end, Simon concludes the case study with some results, reflections, and insights. People don’t just want to know what you did, they want to know the impact of what you did.

What comes next?

If you follow all these steps, you will have a longform case study edited down into something that’s more readable and scannable for the user of your UX portfolio. 

And remember, the UX case studies you write serve many purposes. Of course, they are the foundation of your portfolio, but they also can feed into your resume, LinkedIn, cover letters, and what you say in an interview. 

Want to read more by Sarah Doody?

  • Seriously, you need to start documenting your UX work
  • 4 steps for choosing the right projects for your UX portfolio
  • How to create a UX portfolio without UX experience

by Sarah Doody

Sarah Doody is a User Experience Designer, Entrepreneur, and Educator. She is the founder of The UX Portfolio Formula, a UX career accelerator that helps UX professionals learn how to articulate their work so they can create an awesome portfolio. In 2011, she created the curriculum for and taught General Assembly’s first 12-week UX immersive, the genesis of their popular UX programs which are now taught worldwide.

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How To Write A Case Study For Your Design Portfolio

Case studies are an important part of any designer’s portfolio. Read this article to learn everything you need to know to start writing the perfect case study.

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When you’re putting together your online design portfolio , design case studies are a great way to showcase your experience and skills. They also give potential clients a window into how you work.

By showing off what you can do and your design process, case studies can help you land more clients and freelance design jobs —so it can be smart to dedicate an entire section of your online portfolio website to case studies.

Getting Started

So—what is a design case study and how do they fit in your portfolio.

Let’s get some definitions out of the way first, shall we? A design case study is an example of a successful project you’ve completed. The exact case study format can vary greatly depending on your style and preferences, but typically it should outline the problem or assignment, show off your solution, and explain your approach.

One of the best ways to do that is to use a case study design that’s similar to a magazine article or long-form web article with lots of images throughout. When building your case study portfolio, create a new page for each case study. Then create a listing of all your case studies with an image and link to each of them. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of creating these case studies.

Choose Your Best Projects

To make your online portfolio the best it can be , it’s good to be picky when choosing projects for case studies. Since your portfolio will often act as your first impression with potential clients, you only want it to showcase your best work.

If you have a large collection of completed projects, you may have an urge to do a ton of case studies. There’s an argument to be made in favor of that, since it’s a way to show off your extensive experience. In addition, by including a wide variety of case studies, it’s more likely that potential clients will be able to find one that closely relates to their business or upcoming project.

But don’t let your desire to have many case studies on your portfolio lead you to include projects you’re not as proud of. Keep in mind that your potential clients are probably busy people, so you shouldn’t expect them to wade through a massive list of case studies. If you include too many, you can never be sure which ones potential clients will take a look at. As a result, they may miss out on seeing some of your best work.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how many case studies to include. It’ll depend on the amount of experience you have, and how many of your completed projects you consider to be among your best work.

Use Your Design Expertise

When creating the case study section of your portfolio, use your designer’s eye to make everything attractive and easily digestible. One important guideline is to choose a layout that will enable you to include copy and image captions throughout.

Don’t have your portfolio up and running yet and not sure which portfolio platform is best for you? Try one that offers a free trial and a variety of cool templates that you can play around with to best showcase your design case studies.

If you don’t provide context for every image you include, it can end up looking like just a (somewhat confusing) image gallery. Case studies are more than that—they should explain everything that went into what you see in the images.

Check Out Other Case Study Examples for Inspiration

Looking at case study examples from successful designers is a great way to get ideas for making your case study portfolio more effective. Pay special attention to the case study design elements, including the layout, the number of images, and amount of copy. This will give you a better idea of how the designer keeps visitors interested in the story behind their projects.

To see some great case study examples, check out these UX designer portfolios .

Try a Case Study Template

There are plenty of resources online that offer free case study templates . These templates can be helpful, as they include questions that’ll help you ensure you’ve included all the important information.

However, most of them are not tailored to designers. These general case study templates don’t have the formatting you’ll want (i.e. the ability to include lots of images). Even the ones that are aimed at designers aren’t as effective as creating your own design. That’s why case study templates are best used as a starting point to get you thinking, or as a checklist to ensure you’ve included everything.

How to Write Case Studies

Maintain your usual tone.

You should write your case studies in the same personal, authentic (yet still professional!) tone of voice as you would when creating the About Me section of your portfolio . Don’t get bogged down in too much technical detail and jargon—that will make your case studies harder to read.

Since your case studies are part of your online portfolio, changing your usual tone can be jarring to the reader.

Instead, everything on your portfolio should have a consistent style. This will help you with creating brand identity . The result will be potential clients will be more connected to your writing and get the feeling that they’re learning what makes you unique.

Provide Some Context

Case studies are more effective when you include some information at the beginning to set the stage. This can include things like the date of the project, name of the client, and what the client does. Providing some context will make the case study more relatable to potential clients.

Also, by including the date of the project, you can highlight how your work has progressed over time. However, you don’t want to bog down this part of the case study with too much information. So it only really needs to be a sentence or two.

Explain the Client’s Expectations

Another important piece of information to include near the beginning of your case study is what the client wanted to accomplish with the project. Consider the guidelines the client provided, and what they would consider a successful outcome.

Did this project involve unique requirements? Did you tailor the design to suit the client’s brand or target audience? Did you have to balance some conflicting requirements?

Establishing the client’s expectations early on in the case study will help you later when you want to explain how you made the project a success.

Document Your Design Process

As you write your case study, you should take a look at your process from an outsider’s point of view. You already know why you made the decisions you did, so it may feel like you’re explaining the obvious. But by explaining your thought process, the case study will highlight all the consideration you put into the design project.

This can include everything from your initial plan to your inspiration, and the changes you made along the way. Basically, you should think about why you took the approach you did, and then explain it.

At this point, consider mentioning any tricks you use to make your design process more efficient . That can include how you managed your time, how you communicated with clients, and how you kept things on track.

Don’t Be Afraid to Mention Challenges

When writing a case study, it can be tempting to only explain the parts that went flawlessly. But you should consider mentioning any challenges that popped up along the way.

Was this project assigned with an extremely tight deadline? Did you have to ask the client to clarify their desired outcome? Were there revisions requested?

If you have any early drafts or drawings from the project saved, it can be a good idea to include them in the case study as well—even if they show that you initially had a very different design in mind than you ended up with. This can show your flexibility and willingness to go in new directions in order to achieve the best results.

Mentioning these challenges is another opportunity to highlight your value as a designer to potential clients. It will give you a chance to explain how you overcame those challenges and made the project a success.

Show How the Project’s Success Was Measured

Case studies are most engaging when they’re written like stories. If you followed the guidelines in this article, you started by explaining the assignment. Next, you described the process you went through when working on it. Now, conclude by going over how you know the project was a success.

This can include mentioning that all of the client’s guidelines were met, and explaining how the design ended up being used.

Check if you still have any emails or communications with the client about their satisfaction with the completed project. This can help put you in the right mindset for hyping up the results. You may even want to include a quote from the client praising your work.

Start Writing Your Case Studies ASAP

Since case studies involve explaining your process, it’s best to do them while the project is still fresh in your mind. That may sound like a pain; once you put a project to bed, you’re probably not looking forward to doing more work on it. But if you get started on your case study right away, it’s easier to remember everything that went into the design project, and why you made the choices you did.

If you’re just starting writing your case studies for projects you’ve completed in the past, don’t worry. It will just require a couple more steps, as you may need to refresh your memory a bit.

Start by taking a look at any emails or assignment documents that show what the client requested. Reviewing those guidelines will make it easier to know what to include in your case study about how you met all of the client’s expectations.

Another helpful resource is preliminary drafts, drawings, or notes you may have saved. Next, go through the completed project and remind yourself of all the work that went into achieving that final design.

Draw Potential Clients to See Your Case Studies

Having a great portfolio is the key to getting hired . By adding some case studies to your design portfolio, you’ll give potential clients insight into how you work, and the value you can offer them.

But it won’t do you any good if they don’t visit your portfolio in the first place! Luckily, there are many ways you can increase your chances. One way is to add a blog to your portfolio , as that will improve your site’s SEO and draw in visitors from search results. Another is to promote your design business using social media . If you’re looking to extend your reach further, consider investing in a Facebook ad campaign , as its likely easier and less expensive than you think.

Once clients lay eyes on all your well-written, beautifully designed case studies, the work will come roaring in!

Want to learn more about creating the perfect design portfolio? 5 Designers Reveal How to Get Clients With Your Portfolio 20 Design Portfolios You Need to See for Inspiration Study: How Does the Quality of Your Portfolio Site Influence Getting Hired?

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How to Craft an Outstanding Case Study for Your UX Portfolio

Writing case studies for your UX portfolio can feel opaque and overwhelming. There are so many examples out there, and often the ones that make the rounds are the stunning portfolios of top visual designers. It can be inspiring to see the most beautiful work, but don’t let that distract you from the straightforward format of a good UX case study. 

At the core, a UX case study relies on excellent storytelling with a clear, understandable structure . This article breaks down the anatomy of a UX case study to help you tell a simple and effective story that shows off your skills. We’ll start with some general guidelines and structure, then break it down one piece at a time:

UX portfolio overview

What is a ux case study, general guidelines, how to structure a case study, how to fill in the details, defining the problem, understanding your users, early or alternate ideation, final design solution, next steps and learnings.

  • Final thoughts

1. Before we get started

Before we dive into all the art and science of the case study, here’s a quick refresher on what a job-winning UX portfolio looks like. In this video, pro designer Dee analyses various design portfolios to pick out what works—and what doesn’t:

Simply put, a case study is the story of a design project you’ve worked on. The goal, of course, is to showcase the skills you used on the project and help potential employers envision how you’d use those skills if you worked for them.

A case study is typically written like a highly visual article, with text walking readers through a curated set of images. Curated is an important word here, because it should be short and sweet. It’s a chance to share what you want potential employers to know about your work on this project.

With that in mind, case studies are really a UX designer’s secret weapon in two ways. First, they get you in the door by showing more about your work than a resume and a top UX cover letter ever could. Another benefit is that they’re really handy in job interviews. If someone asks about a past project, you can walk them through the case study you’ve already created (this is sometimes a requirement anyway).

I mentioned that UX case studies are about storytelling. I’d actually say they’re about stories-telling, since they need to tell two intertwined stories .

The first is the story of your project. This answers questions like what problem you solved, who your users were, what solutions you explored, and what impact they had.

The second story is about you as a designer and your process. This is more about which methods you chose to use and why, how you worked within constraints, and how you worked as a member of a team (or without one).

So what are the steps for an effective case study? Well, like most things in design (and life), it depends. Every case study will be different, depending on what stories you’re telling. The six-part outline below, though, should guide you through an effective format for any UX project story. Here’s the outline (we’ll dive into each component in just a minute):

  • Defining the Problem
  • Understanding your Users
  • Final solution

It’s worth it to add a few general notes before we dive into each of the list items above. For each section, include 1-2 short paragraphs and an image of a deliverable that visually tells the story your paragraphs explain. A reader should be able to either just read or just look at the images and roughly get what this moment in the story is communicating.

When choosing images to include, focus on quality over quantity.  Choose your best deliverables for each stage and briefly relate them back to the larger narrative. It can be tempting to overload the page with everything you created along the way, but these extra details should stay in your back pocket for interviews.

Lastly, make sure your case study is scannable . In the best of circumstances, people don’t read word for word on the web. Make sure your text is reasonably concise, use headers and strong visual hierarchy, and use bullet points and lists when possible. If you need a refresher on how to achieve this, check out our guide to the principles of visual hierarchy .

Ok, let’s take a look at each step in a bit more detail.

2. Anatomy of a UX case study

Like any story, the introduction sets the stage and gives much of the necessary context readers will need to understand your project. This is one section where people actually might take some extra time to read carefully as they try to discern what this case study is about. Make sure they have all the details they need.

Some key questions to answer are:

  • What is your company and/or product?
  • What user problem did you try to solve?
  • What was your role?
  • What tools and methods did you use?
  • What are the major insights, impacts, or metrics related to the project

After introducing the project, dive more deeply into the problem you tackled. You touched upon this in the introduction, but this section is an opportunity to make a strong case for why this project exists. Did a competitor analysis or market research demand a new product? Was there past user research in your company that suggests a needed redesign of the product?

Remember that you’ll want to create a through line in the narrative, so try to lay out the problem in a way that frames your design work as a solution.

Deliverables that work really well for this section would be:

  • Analytics or usage data
  • Market research of internal business metrics
  • Survey results or interview highlights

After explaining the problem, show how it impacts your users and their interaction with your product. If you did original user research or you’re seeking user research-oriented jobs, sharing interview scripts, affinity maps , and spreadsheets can be useful in showing your process.

However, this section shouldn’t be only about your process. A key goal of this section is articulating who your users are and what their needs are. These findings should set up your design work that follows, so try to set up that connection.

A few types of the deliverables you might share here are:

  • User personas
  • Mental models
  • Journey maps or customer experience maps

Keep in mind you want to communicate users’ key motivations and challenges, as well as any more specific user groups you identified.

This section can really scale up or down depending on what you have to show. Research shows that hiring managers  don’t just want the final product , so it’s clear that showing some of your process is helpful. Especially for students or designers without a fully built product to show, this can be a moment for you to shine.

Don’t worry about the low fidelity of these documents, but the rougher they are, the more you’ll need to guide readers through them. Everything you show here should teach the reader something new about your process and/or your users.

Artifacts you might include are:

  • Pen and paper or low fidelity digital wireframes

If you did early testing or faced constraints that determined your future design work, be sure to include them here, too.

This section should include the most final work you did on the project (e.g. wireframe flows or color mockups) and any final product it led to (if you have it). Be clear, though, about which work is yours and which isn’t.

Explain any key decisions or constraints that changed the design from the earlier stages. If you incorporated findings from usability testing, that’s great. If not, try to call out some best practices to help you explain your decisions. Referring to Material Design, WCAG, or Human Interface Guidelines can show the why behind your design.

If you’re able to show the impact of your work, this can take a good case study and make it outstanding. If your project has already been built and made available to users, have a look at any analytics, satisfaction data, or other metrics. See what you could highlight  in your case study to show how your design improved the user experience or achieved business goals. Ideally, you can refer back to your original problem statement and business goals from the introduction.

If you don’t have any way of showing the impact of your project, lay out how you would measure the impact. Showing you know how to measure success demonstrates you could do this on future projects.

Lastly, conclude your case study by sharing either your next design steps and/or some key insights you learned from the project. This isn’t just fluff! No project is perfect or final. Showing next steps is a great way to demonstrate your thinking iterative approach (without having to do the work!).

Also, many companies do (or should do) retrospectives after each project to identify challenges and improve future processes. Use this process and the insights you gain from it to inform your case study. Letting employers know you’re capable of reflection shows humility, self-awareness, and the value you can bring to a team.

3. Final thoughts

Since each case study is a unique story you’re telling about your project, it’s a little art and a little science. But starting with the structure laid out in this article will show who you are as a designer and how you solved a problem. And those are two stories companies want to hear!

If you’d like to learn more about how to craft a great UX portfolio, check out these articles:

  • 5 Golden rules to build a job-winning UX portfolio
  • The best UX design portfolio examples from around the web
  • The best free UX/UI portfolio websites to use
  • Salary negotiation for UX designers

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How to Write a Case Study [+ Design Tips]

By Ronita Mohan , Aug 26, 2021

How to Write a Case Study [+ Design Tips] Blog Header

You need an impactful medium to share your business successes with potential customers and partners. The best way to showcase your brand is by designing a case study.

Case studies are a method of research and storytelling. They help readers gain a better understanding of a subject or process.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to write a case report that markets your business, as well as some design tips.

Don’t know how to start designing case studies?  Create a case study with Venngage’s templates. No design experience required.

START CREATING FOR FREE

Click to jump ahead:

Case study defined, what is the purpose of a case study, what is the format of a case study, how do you write a business case study, case study design tips, case study faqs.

A case study is used in business, psychology, epidemiology, as well as the medical and scientific fields. These reports are also used for social and political work.

Case studies are defined as documents that examine a person, groups of people, events, operations and processes.

For marketing purposes, a case analysis can be a document that outlines problems faced by a customer. It also shares the solutions a brand provided to solve them, such as in the case report below.

case study

USE THIS CASE STUDY TEMPLATE

Case studies usually share success stories for a business partnership or client. But case reports can also be used to analyze a process that went wrong.

This type of study will outline the need for improvements and suggest next steps. As a result, these case studies are not shared externally.

You can look at some case study examples  for inspiration to design your report. Read on to learn about the importance of case studies and how to write them.

Related:  What is a Case Study? [+6 Types of Case Studies]

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Case studies are effective marketing tools that build trust and act as social proof for your brand.

Customers are more likely to choose your company if they know that other businesses like theirs have also benefited.

More importantly, when a customer participates in creating a case report with a brand, they endorse the company and their experience with it.

In other words, a  business report , like the example below, acts as a recommendation to anyone on the fence about working with your brand or using your products.

case study

CREATE THIS REPORT TEMPLATE

Related:  Report Design Ideas to ENGAGE Readers [10+ Tips & Templates]

A case study can be of varying lengths. It can also take a variety of forms, such as a simple two-page document or a Venngage business infographic like the one below.

case study

Most business case studies feature the following five sections.

Related: What is an Infographic? Examples, Templates & Design Tips

  • About the company

When creating a case study for marketing, it is best to include a small section about the company. This section can be short, sharing highlights about the company’s goals and missions.

case study

Venngage’s case study templates  offer a variety of options for customizing your report.

Overview of the case study

This is a key section of a case study. What is the study about? What was the reason for conducting it? What are the expected results?

The overview doesn’t have to be very long. Two or three paragraphs that sum up what a reader can expect from the report will suffice.

Case study research

You want to show the kind of research, strategy, and approach adopted for your case study. This is the section where you can showcase your process while conducting the analysis, like in this template.

case study

Results of the case study

By far the most important aspect of a case study is the results section. You can choose to share your findings in a few paragraphs.

Alternatively, go down a more visual route by using data visualizations  to showcase your results. You can use different types of charts and graphs  or use a single number or donut chart.

This case study template is a great example of how to highlight results.

case study

This is also a good section to include a testimonial or quote from your client as social proof.

Related: How to Choose the Best Types of Charts

Conclusion of the case report

You can choose to add a separate conclusion to your case study following the results section. This is where you sum up the process you used in the analysis.

Also, share why the process or campaign was effective and how your brand achieved these results.

Writing a case study requires research and revision. You should have a single objective decided before you start writing.

Case studies in marketing, like the below example, are meant to highlight your company’s successes. Choosing a client to showcase is also an important step in the writing process.

case study

Below, we share the top steps to complete when writing a case study to promote your business.

Determine your objective

Before you start writing case studies, decide what the main objective for this exercise is. Case reports don’t have the potential to go viral, nor are they shareable on social media.

But a case study is an effective tool for converting prospects into customers. They can also encourage business partners to take that final step and sign on the dotted line.

You need to approach your case analysis differently than all other content. This is why you need to have an objective for undergoing the process of writing a case study.

For example, this report shows how the fictional company Toy Crates used the services of Ad Factory to significantly increase its sales.

case study

The main objective of your case study is to highlight your business processes. You should also show the benefits of using your product. But there needs to be a relatable angle for whoever is reading your study.

Possible angles for a case study can be:

  • Audience growth
  • Launch of a new type of product
  • Entry into a new market
  • Improvements in conversion rates
  • Increased revenue
  • Increased traffic or social media impressions
  • Technology or software adoption

This case study focuses on lead generation. The report showcases the efforts behind boosting the client’s lead generation program and the successes achieved.

case study

Once you determine the best objective for your analysis, you can move onto the next step. Look for a client that best showcases positive aspects of your company.

Choose the right client

You need a particular type of client as the subject of your case study. This client will be a loyal customer. They should be willing to participate in the study. The client should also align with the objective of your study.

Pick a customer who knows your product inside and out. They should not be someone who used your product once and had success with it.

You want to showcase consistent and high-quality results over a period of time. In this example, the fictional Ad Factory also showcased Loot Box as a client that had success with their brand.

case study

USE THIS CASE REPORT TEMPLATE

You also want to choose customers who have had success directly from using your product. If a brand has seen overall growth and your product was just part of that success, it won’t make for a compelling case study.

Contacting your client for the case study

The customer you choose for your case study should know what the process entails.

Be open in your communication about what you need to put together the case report. This could be communicated through calls, email conversations, or a project management tool.

Set a deadline and share a project timeline  so the client knows what the process will look like. Let them know what documentation or statistics you will need for them before you start writing.

Offer something in exchange for participating in the case study. These could be product discounts, a temporary upgrade, a mention in your newsletter, social media, or increased brand awareness.

case study

USE THIS CASE REPORT TEMPLATE

It is imperative that you let the customer know how their information and data will be used. Tell them if you’re posting the case analysis to your blog, sharing it on YouTube, or with your email subscribers.

Some clients may not want their professional information shared with large audiences, so clarify this step of the process first.

Related:  40+ Timeline Template Examples and Design Tips

Research your case study

Once your client agrees to participate in the case analysis, you can begin researching. Remember the objective of your case study and research the subject accordingly.

For example, we wanted to show how infographics help businesses grow their audience. We contacted our user, ChadSan , who had seen massive growth after adding infographics to their marketing campaigns.

We put our findings into a  research infographic  along with quotes from the client, charts and graphs.

case study

To do this, we researched the content ChadSan created before and compared their traffic to when they started using infographics.

It’s also important to look at the industry your client is in so you have an idea of what success looks like in that sector.

Client interviews

Conducting interviews with clients is a good way to get information for your case report.

You can hold interviews via video call, which you should record to double-check later or conduct the interview via email.

Email interviews might require follow-ups if you need further clarification on particular questions.

Asking the right questions is crucial during the research phase. You don’t want ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer. You need qualified information and data to build out a case study, like the one below.

case study

USE THIS CASE REPORT TEMPLATE

For example, we asked our contact at ChadSan for her experience using infographics in her marketing. We also asked about her main challenges, why she had chosen Venngage and the benefits of using Venngage.

This is also the stage when you can ask for concrete examples of how your product benefited your client.

We asked ChadSan to share some examples of the infographics they had created using our templates. This helped show our product in use, further social proof of the advantages of using Venngage infographics.

Create the case study outline

With the client interview completed, gather the data you have and start writing the outline for the case report. Remember the case study format  we shared earlier when you’re preparing the outline.

This will help you design a case study that is memorable, like this example.

Purple SAAS Business Case Study Template

For a case study blog post, you should prepare the following:

  • Overview of the study
  • The results, with charts
  • Call to action

Write a few notes for each point that you can elaborate on in the next writing stage. By following this process, you can build out a case study like this example.

Social Media Business Case Study template

Draft your case report

The outline is your starting point for drafting the case report. Like any other piece of content you create, a case study needs to be engaging. It also needs a beginning, a middle and an end.

Use classic marketing storytelling approaches when writing case studies. Introduce your characters (the client), the conflict (the business problem), the resolution (the benefits of your product).

By using this technique, you can write a case study like this example.

case study

Conclude with an analysis of your success and a testimonial recommending your product and brand.

Finalize your case study

Revise your study and ask one or two colleagues to glance over it to catch any mistakes you may have missed.

You should send the report to the client you’re showcasing for their approval. When you and the client are satisfied with the case study, an infographic study like the one below is ready to be published.

Digital Ducats Case Study Venngage

Share a link to the case study with the client to promote on their platforms. You can share the case report on your social channels, with partners and to your email subscribers.

Now that you know how to write your case report, here are some tips on case study design. Improving the aesthetics and usability of your study will make it memorable to read. In the long run, the study will help boost brand awareness.

Use a case study template

Make the case study design process easier by using a template. Venngage offers a variety of customizable case study templates , like this one, to make any study attractive and engaging.

LISG Case Study Venngage

Choose a template from Venngage’s library and edit it to fit your needs. Change the text, upload visuals or choose images from our stock photo integration. Pick icons from the 40,000+ icons available to better reflect your story.

With Venngage for Business , you can get priority support while designing your study.

You can also access  real-time collaboration  features so you can design your case study with team members.

Incorporate white space

A great way to make your case study engaging is to incorporate one important rule of design: use plenty of white space.

White space is all the blank areas around your text and visuals. This space gives your information room to breathe and makes it easier for readers to absorb your story.

Take a look at this template for inspiration. There is plenty of room around each element. This makes the study easier to navigate.

case study

Write short paragraphs of two or three lines and use bullet points to create more space around your text. Leave room around your visuals, as well, so users can move through the sections easily.

Related:  The Ultimate Guide to Design Thinking

Visualize data for your case study

Case studies include a great deal of information but that doesn’t mean they need to be packed full of text. Visuals are a great way to catch the eye and keep users interested in your report.

Statistics are a key element of case reports but numbers on their own can get lost. Instead, visualize your data using Venngage’s chart maker and graph maker .

Design pie charts, bar graphs, donut charts, line and area graphs, or maps to visualize numerous types of data for your case studies, like in this example.

case study

Related:  How to Tell a Story With Data: A Guide for Beginners

Add branding to case reports

Branding is an important facet of case reports. Anybody reading the study should know which companies were involved, both the client and your brand.

Add recognizable brand elements such as your logo and the client’s logo. Use your brand colors and brand fonts  throughout your case study design.

Ensure that your design adheres to your  brand guidelines , including your brand voice.

Take a look at this case study infographic Venngage created with Baptist Care. We incorporated both our logos in the infographic. We also used the brand colors and fonts of both companies.

case study

You can easily add your branding to case report templates using Venngage’s  My Brand Kit  tool. Input your website and the Autobrand feature will apply your branding across all your designs.

What subjects are covered in a case study?

Depending on the field of study, case reports can examine a variety of subjects, including:

  • a group of people
  • an organization or business

For example, case studies in psychology may be focused on a person or groups of people. Medical case reports might study events or groups of patients.

Businesses can examine other organizations, as in this example, or events.

case study

What are the characteristics of a case study?

Case studies are characterized by the units or subjects they examine. These units need to be studied in totality. Every aspect of the person, organization or event needs to be included.

Reports should also be qualitative as well as quantitative. This means that case study research describes problems and solutions.

It also backs those assumptions up with data. Both aspects must be included in the analysis, as in this example.

case study

How can you design a case study with Venngage?

Venngage makes it easy to design case studies by offering numerous editable templates. Create an account with Venngage and browse the library for a template.

Customize the template, like the one below, in the easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor. Add text, pick colors , icons, add photos and charts and graphs.

case study

Upload photos with Venngage. Drag and drop images into the Venngage editor and customize your reports in seconds.

Use a case study to highlight your brand’s successes

A case study can be a powerful marketing tool that showcases the advantages of using your product.

By highlighting real clients and their successes, you can provide social proof to potential customers and partners.

Designing case studies has never been easier. Use Venngage’s templates to create engaging reports to impress your audiences and help you grow your client base.

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Home - UX Portfolio - How to write a UX case study

How to write a UX case study

Case studies are an essential part of any UX designer’s portfolio. They fill up the main part of your portfolio and are a must-have when you want to get hired in UX. But how to write a UX case study? That’s what you’ll learn in this article.

  • Updated on December 3, 2022

How to write a UX case study

When you’re looking for  UX design jobs , it is very important to have a  UX portfolio  that is on point. Case studies show your next client or employer how you go about your UX work.

Here’s everything you need to know about UX case studies. We’ll discuss everything from structure to content and the number of case studies you need in your portfolio. I’ll also share my  UX case study template  below.

Table of Contents

What is a ux case study.

Let’s start at the beginning. What is a UX case study exactly? If you bring it down to the core, a case study examines your design process around a particular project or job.

In the case of a UX designer ,  this will most likely be a project you’ve completed previously at a company or client.

Your case study can be an individual document or be part of a more extensive document like a pitch, proposal, or UX portfolio. The goal of a case study is always to show your process, skill, and, most importantly, your impact as a designer.

We’ve created a video on The Designer’s Toolbox YouTube channel that can help you write better UX case studies. It compares the case studies you’re taught at a UX bootcamp with actual real-world case studies and teaches you how to get started. Take a look here.

How to structure a UX case study

A good UX case study showing your skills, process, and impact as a UX designer requires a clear structure.

Did you know recruiters and hiring managers only take a very short time to look at your work? Yet another reason why a solid UX case study structure is essential.

It gives your readers something to hold on to. Good case studies make your work scannable and easy to digest.

If you look at it like that, creating a thorough case study that is easy to read is the perfect job for any UX designer. I mean, isn’t that what we do?

Structure your case study using the ‘STAR’ method. STAR stands for situation, tasks, activities, and results.

If you follow this method, your case studies will be a breeze to go through. Let’s take a closer look at this case study structure.

First up is the situation. This part of your case study is also known as your project’s challenge or problem statement.

In this part of the UX case study, you mention the business goal your client wants to achieve or a problem your users keep running into.

You’re hired or assigned to work on that business goal or problem. State your role and responsibilities in this part of the case study.

Second, we have your tasks.   What tasks did you do to address the challenges mentioned in the first section of the UX case study? This is the place to name them.

As a UX designer, these could be anything from conducting user research to delivering a state-of-the-art visual design concept. Make sure you mention skills and tools relevant to your role and the role you’re looking for. 

Activities   show what you have done to complete the tasks mentioned above. Tasks are abstract. Activities are detailed and together make up a bigger task.

If we stick to the user research example, activities might include recruiting participants, conducting user interviews, and presenting your findings to stakeholders.

Again, mention relevant activities here by connecting this and the previous section together.

In this final section of your UX case study, you link your results to the challenges mentioned at the beginning of your case study.

What was the original problem or goal, and what was the result of your work? Make this as specific as possible. Then, focus on the impact you have made as a UX designer.

If the challenge was to increase a low conversion rate, mention the new and improved rate that was only possible by your work. It is okay to exaggerate a bit here, as long as you don’t lie.

Best practices

If you put this all together, you will get a nice case study of about five to eight paragraphs. That’s one or two paragraphs for each of the sections mentioned above.

Once this is all in place, it is time to look at best practices to enhance your UX case studies. Here’s a list.

Headers for your case study

You do not have to name the title of every paragraph after the ‘STAR’ method.

Instead, you can use headers that fit your personal style or branding. Or even better, do not name your paragraphs at all. Go for a fluent story. That is better and more fun to read.

I recommend adding relevant pictures to specific paragraphs to make an even stronger UX case study. These could be images of your progress, photos of workshops, or pixel-perfect visual design mockups.

There’s no good or bad in this case as long as the pictures are relevant to your case study.

Highlighting your UX skills

You can add extra paragraphs to zoom in on a particular skill you want to highlight.

Let’s say you mention design thinking as a task you worked on for a particular case study. You’re super proud of the workshops you’ve facilitated and are eager to do more workshops in the future.

This is an excellent example of a skill to which you can dedicate a paragraph or two. You can also add images here, as I mentioned before.

UX case study resources

Let’s be honest for a moment. Even when using all the information above, creating a UX case study is much work.

This gets even worse when you want to make multiple case studies showcasing projects you completed a while ago.

Here’s a list of recommended resources to help you write better UX case studies.

UX case study template

Learn how to create a UX case study within 24 hours.  

  • How to make your case study stand out.
  • Step-by-step guide to write your case study.
  • Includes examples.

That’s the theory behind case studies in the field of UX. If you follow the structure and best practices outlined in this article, you will get a UX case study example that looks like this.

A UX case study example

The UX Bank has a mortgage calculation tool that does not reach the targets set by the bank. Furthermore, there are delays in customer service due to the increase in demand.

As an entry-level designer, I have designed a new version of the mortgage tool. In addition, I completed a design thinking project with the calculation tool at its center to determine why the bank didn’t meet the set targets.

After completing my user interviews, I discovered that users didn’t like the level of detail found on the results page of the tool. They found the results to be unclear. Users flooded customer service with questions about the unclear results.

Finally, I’ve designed a high-fidelity prototype to validate a new version of the mortgage calculation tool. After testing and refining the prototype, I did a handoff for development.

Since the release of the new calculation tool, users have been much happier with the test.

As a result, the UX Bank has seen an increase in mortgage requests of 8%. The customer service delays are decreasing as well.

This is an excellent example of a UX case study. It is short, to the point, and focuses on the impact you made as a designer.

All you have to do from here is add your visuals, like the featured image and a stunning mockup.

Once that’s done, it is time to add your case study to your portfolio. I recommend hosting it on your website, but  Dribbble or Behance  is also fine.

And finally, some frequently asked questions on the topic of UX case studies. I will answer as much as possible based on my UX design experience.

How many case studies should I put in my UX portfolio?

Add at least one excellent case study to your UX portfolio that showcases a relevant project.

I’m not going to mention a specific number. Many other UX designers will say you need three or five case studies, for example. However, it’ll hurt the quality of your work when you force yourself to hit that number.

Instead, show what you want to do more of. Do you want to create stunning UI design mockups? Pick a case study that shows just that!

Is it okay to only have student case studies in my portfolio?

Yes, it is perfectly fine to have case studies you made in school or during a bootcamp in your portfolio.

Your portfolio would be stronger if you had some real-life case studies as well, but we all have to start somewhere.

To make that happen, you need to work to get some work experience. Luckily, there are many ways to get hired in UX without experience .

How do I present my UX case study?

For most companies, you have to present your case studies during the second interview. That’s scary! Make sure you have the basics right. In doing so, you will most likely beat a few of your competitors already.

The biggest tip I can give you is to keep it short first. That way, you can focus more on questions and having a good discussion.

Where can I share my case study?

You can share case studies on platforms like  Dribbble  and  Behance  or your website. Be visible! It’ll help you reach a larger audience full of recruiters and potential clients.

You can also share your case study on Medium and LinkedIn. Both are excellent platforms to share your work and build a professional network.

Further reading

I can’t stress enough how critical case studies are for a UX designer. You write your case studies by sharing the business challenge, what you did to tackle that challenge, and how your work has impacted your client.

Case studies are the foundation of your  UX portfolio . You need that portfolio to get a job in UX. You can read about your portfolio next.

Do you have feedback on this article? Missing something? Or just a question? Reach out to me and I’ll get back to you!

Profile picture of author Nick Groeneveld, a senior UX designer and mentor for The Designer's Toolbox

About the author

Hi! I'm Nick Groeneveld , a senior designer from the Netherlands with experience in UX, visual design, and research. I'm a UX coach that supports other designers and have completed design projects in finance, tech, and the public sector.

Through The Designer's Toolbox, I'm an Educational Partner for Interaction Design Foundation.

☎️ Book a 1:1 mentor meeting with me or let's connect on LinkedIn , Twitter and Medium .

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5 Key Parts of a Great Design Case Study

image of a designer working on wireframe

Here are five of the most important areas that go beyond the basics of case study writing and get into the more challenging parts that can provide a far greater reward.

When done right, case studies are seriously complex and represent hundreds of hours of design work. At their start, they can feel like a disorganized, overwhelming mess.

Step by step, they transform into a piece of work a designer can truly be proud of because it tells the story of their growth over the project. Being able to effectively communicate and illustrate that unique story is key to a designer’s success in the interview process, and a way for them to stand out from competitors.

I’ve lost track of how many case studies I’ve reviewed in my time at Designation — it’s probably somewhere close to 1,000 by now — and in all that time, I’ve seen many important parts of case study writing come into focus.

Below are five of the most important areas that go beyond the basics of case study writing and get into the more challenging parts that can provide a far greater reward. Together, they can turn good designers into great design storytellers—and set them up for greater success later on as professionals.

Show your process assets purposefully.

Assets are your opportunity to show rather than tell—explain a big chunk of the process in a visual form. Assets can take many forms, and the more diversity in them, the more engaging for readers.

They include photographs, which can backup descriptions of on-site research, interviews, and teamwork; screenshots of in-progress work and art boards; sketches showing rough ideas that were fleshed out later; Post-it notes and affinity diagrams; wireframes, sometimes with color added for extra clarity for the reader; animated gifs showing microinteractions and user flows through the product; charts and tables; and so many others.

Blog: scattered paper

When focusing on a design or visual case study image like this shows a surprising amount of information and process—how creatively messy it can be to sketch, sorting to find ideas worthy of development, fleshing the strong ones out, and applying design elements and patterns to them.

A case study without showing assets is incomplete, but one that shows assets without explaining them is almost worse, because a designer always needs to explain their importance to the process.

The best way to do that is to use  captions  for each asset. But captions must always be a part of the overall story; they shouldn’t only repeat information that the asset already shows. They must provide a unique insight, and further the story for the reader. By doing this, it activates the caption and justifies its existence and the work it takes to write them by the designer.

Blog: random charts

This designer used two forms of captions to illustrate their screens: Annotations that point out specific areas of concern from testers who looked at them, and a caption below that collected and synthesized them for easier comprehension.

Provide a  competitive benchmark for the study.

Designers often like to downplay the research and analysis of competitors that happens near the beginning of a project because it doesn’t directly focus on the work they created. This is an unfortunate mistake because it’s a huge part of the story and it often leads directly to designers making research or design decisions later in the process.

Furthermore, designers should show off that they have a deep understanding of the competition whenever they work on a product; that they know what’s happening in the landscape and how their product fits in. Showing logos or only mentioning names of competitors isn’t anywhere near enough; designers need to discuss in detail what competitors do well, and analyze the areas in which they need improvement. Designers can provide screenshots of competitors’ products, but they need to go further and  annotate or comment on them, to show a more detailed analysis.

They can’t ignore out-of-category competitors too, because that research often leads to innovative ideas that can catapult their product over in-category competitors’.

Blog: random apps

This designer looked at three competitors and called out unique areas of strength and weakness from each one, especially as they led the designer to make design decisions later in the process.

Finally, all that analysis requires synthesis, which means explaining the opportunities the designer saw for their own product after looking at the competition. This helps the designer more formally describe the end of the competitive research phase of a project and how that helped them refocus on their own product.

Blog: mojo app

The designer analyzed competitors’ images in the center of this screen, but the text at the bottom presents what they did with that analysis: They derived an important design principle from it, which heavily impacted the next phase of their work.

Be team-centered in user experience design.

Almost every project done at Designation is done as part of a team because almost every project done as a professional designer is done as part of a team. It’s crucial for designers to reflect that in their case studies. Designers must write  “we”  when talking about group actions, and  “I”  when talking about personal design decisions or insights. In other words, we encourage designers to use “I” when they talk about where they led their team, and “we” when they supported another team member leading their team.

This is a great example of team-centered writing, where the designer discusses how the team worked together to generate concepts. She then switches to individual writing to indicate which concept she took charge of. Both extremes of this spectrum are bad in a case study—ones that only say “we” look like the designer didn’t think for themselves, and ones that only say “I” look like the designer isn’t a team player. So that balance has to always be found. Employers look for teamwork skills as much as they look for hard design skills, and a case study can be an excellent place to find records of them.

Don’t designsplain.

This is a big one. A lot of designers fall into the trap of explaining a basic element of the design process or design deliverables to the reader. You might be asking yourself: Why is this problematic? It’s because the intended readership of a designer’s case study is a hiring manager, design director, or someone else looking for evidence the designer will make a good fit for their team.

That means the designer needs to make an educated assumption that the reader is already familiar with design—and write their case study with that in mind. Unless it’s a part of their design process that was extremely unusual or the designer came up with it themselves, a designer has to assume the reader’s already familiar with it. If they don’t, they risk looking like the case study condescends to the reader, and that’s not purposeful writing.

One easy way to avoid this is for a designer to always  avoid second-person writing —using “you” and “your”—which is a little too conversational for a case study anyway. They keep the focus on themselves and their work, and tell a stronger story in doing so.

Get the details right.

It might be cheating a little to clump a bunch of little steps together like this, but it’s important at the end of the case study writing process to  micro-edit and make sure every detail is taken care of.

That’s why designers utilize tools like Figma to to tell their story in a professional way.

That’s making sure every word is spelled right, every publication title is italicized, and every piece of software is properly capitalized. But it’s also doing tasks like using contractions as often as possible throughout the text, removing extra spaces from between words or in front of paragraphs, knowing when to use a semicolon or an em dash, and making sure all dumb quotes are taken care of. And using writing tools like Hemingway, Grammarly, and GradeProof are a huge gift to anyone who needs a little help to take care of tricky grammar and get rid of run-on sentences.

Though tedious and time-consuming, the best way to take care of these details is to go through the complete draft and look to make one editing change at a time. Trying to edit for multiple needs causes the designer’s attention to be split in many directions—and makes them much less effective as self-editors.

Digital Designer Case Studies Conclusion

Writing effective, powerful case studies is a craft, and like all crafts, it rarely comes naturally to people. It takes skill and work, and staying in practice. The tools, resources, feedback, and processes we give every designer at Designation are able to be used for years and decades to come, so a designer can turn any work they produce into a case study anytime during their long career.

Remember:  Hiring managers don’t look for designers with superpowers; they look for designers who are committed to designing better and better for as long as they practice design. And case studies are the absolute best metric for a designer to see how far they’ve come and how much they’ve learned, from tool to tool, project to project, and job to job.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is current as of February 26, 2020. Current policies, offerings, procedures, and programs may differ.

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How to Write the Perfect Introduction to Your UX Case Study

It’s tough to write beginnings, isn’t it? It can be especially difficult to write the introduction of your UX case study, since it will determine the success of your job application. What should you include? How do you make a good first impression? Fret not! We’ve got you covered here. Your introduction should include 3 key components: a design problem that involves a business need, your approach to solving the problem as well as your role in the project. Let’s go through what exactly you should include in your UX case study’s introduction. We’ve even got a step-by-step exercise you can follow!

What’s the Role of Your UX Case Study’s Introduction?

Before we begin writing our UX case study introduction, we should first understand the role it plays. We can divide your UX case study into 5 parts, based on the German playwright Gustav Freytag’s 5-part dramatic structure:

Exposition : Where you introduce key information and set expectations for the rest of the story.

Rising action : Where you bring the reader through your strategies that lead to a climax.

Climax : The peak of your story, a “wow” moment where, for instance, you uncover an unexpected insight.

Falling action : Where things fall into place and lead to the final results.

Resolution : Where you reveal the final product of your project and round your story off in a satisfying conclusion.

writing a design case study

Your UX case study should follow Freytag’s 5-part dramatic structure. Author / Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and the Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and license: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

We can group Freytag’s 5 parts into 3 main sections: an introduction, a middle and a conclusion. As you can see from the image above, your UX case study’s introduction should include “exposition”, where you set the stage for the rest of your story to happen.

In other words, your UX case study’s introduction should let your recruiters know the problem you’re solving, the strategies you adopt and your role in the project. This way, you’ll provide all the context your recruiters need to evaluate your skills and appreciate what you’ve achieved in your project.

3 Essential Components of Your Case Study Introduction

Your UX case study introduction should thus contain:

A problem statement: Highlight the key problem you’re going to solve—preferably in relation to business objectives or metrics. What motivates you to take on this problem? What are your thoughts and feelings about it? If you’re revamping an existing webpage or app, then show some screenshots of how it looked and point out the problems.

Your solution: Run through your approach to solving the problem. Give your readers a taste of what to expect at the end of your story—what deliverables or final output will you produce?

Your role: Let your readers know how you have contributed to the project. Your role in the project should be linked to the job you apply for. For example, if you apply for a UX researcher job, then ideally you should have played a UX research role in your case study project.

Your introduction should be 4–5 sentences long. This ensures that your UX case study is short and sweet, since recruiters usually spend no more than 5 minutes reading your case study. However, as we’ll go through below, you shouldn’t worry about word count when you begin to write your introduction. Focus on content first, then cut down on words later.

Next, we’ll go through the best way to write the problem, the solution and your role in your introduction. After that, we’ll take a step-by-step walkthrough of how to write your introduction, so you can get started immediately. Let’s begin!

1. How to Write Your Problem Statement

Your problem statement should explain what you’re trying to solve, provide you with a strong motivation and outline the main challenge involved. It should read something like: “I wanted to [solve this problem], because [of my motivations]. This problem is particularly challenging since [describe my main challenge].”

Tie your problem statement to a business problem whenever possible. Remember, recruiters hire you to bring value to a business. Show you understand that a designer’s role is not only to provide a great experience for users but also to create value for an enterprise.

Here’s a problem statement that’s tied to a business problem:

“We launched a feature ‘X’ 2 months ago, but realized that many people were not using it because they didn’t know it even existed. I wanted to increase its discoverability , because ‘X’ will help open a new stream of revenue for our app .”

The bolded part in the example above provides a strong link between your project and the business value it provides. Compare this with the following bad problem statement:

“I set out to do a complete visual overhaul of the Podcast App so that it looks fresh and provides an exciting user experience .”

Notice what’s missing? This problem statement lacks a business-oriented “why” to it—as a result, the designer has an unclear (i.e., poor) motivation. Why did the designer do a visual overhaul of the app, other than to make it look “fresh”?

Let’s improve this problem statement by adding a compelling, business-centric motivation:

“The Podcast App is a leading podcast app, but its design looks outdated compared to its competitors . With such tight competition in the industry , a visual overhaul is long overdue. I thus set out to reimagine the Podcast App so it can maintain its lead in the years to come .”

See how much more compelling it sounds? Now you understand why it’s so important to redesign the app—its market position will likely be overtaken by a better-designed competitor!

Of course, a personal motivation works, too. For instance, you might have designed a website to solve a personal problem you face every day. Personal motivations can be equally powerful drivers of your UX case study. However, we encourage you to include at least one case study in your portfolio that has a business-oriented motivation , because that’s what recruiters love to see.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to show your emotions! Were you nervous to take on the project because of its high stakes or anxious because it was the first project you led? Showcase your humanity in your problem statement. A bit of vulnerability can make your story powerful and relatable.

2. How to Write Your Solution

In the solution portion of your introduction, give your readers a taste of what to expect. Since this is just the introduction, you don’t have to fully describe your design process or solution. Instead, briefly mention the design process you used.

Mention the key deliverables of the project. This serves as the light at the end of the tunnel, so readers know what to expect at the end. If you’ve created an interactive prototype, make it known right at the introduction to your UX case study.

Here’s a solution statement in the introduction of a case study:

“We ran 2 weeks of design sprints based on the design thinking methodology, which includes 5 stages: empathize , define, ideate , prototype and test. We eventually created and shipped a fully functional app where people can learn English in as little as 15 minutes a day.”

In the example above, we highlighted the design process we will use—namely, the design thinking methodology. We also briefly went through the 5 stages of the design thinking process and mentioned that the final product we created was a functional app. In 2 sentences, the reader can get a holistic summary of the project.

3. How to Write About Your Role in the Project

This is one of the most important parts of your introduction! If you remember just one thing, let it be this: clearly state your role . Your project might be amazing, but if the recruiter does not know how you’ve contributed to the final results, they’ll not know whether to hire you. In a field of equally qualified candidates, it can make that final difference as to whether you get invited to the interview or not. So, remember to include what you’ve contributed ( and what you did not contribute) to the project.

As UX designer Mike Curtis says, you’ve got to have a balance of “I” and “we” in your UX case studies . This means that in your introduction, you have to present yourself as a team player and also make it clear what you bring to the table. Your recruiter is going to hire you , not your team!

There’s a balance where you need to stay in the spotlight, but gracefully. So, don’t be overly generous with mentioning others (which looks fake), but don’t make yourself seem like a lone wolf. Recruiters like to see self-confident designers who can work well in teams. What if you’ve worked alone on a project? In such a case, give credit to anyone who’s helped you along the way—for instance, someone who critiqued your design.

At the same time, make sure your role in the project is crystal clear. For instance, if you helped to conduct user research and usability tests in a project, you could write something like:

“I conducted initial user research and defined key personas , and also helped evaluate our designs through usability tests before it was launched. The amazing Victor Johnson helped create the interaction design of the final product.”

A 5-Step Guide to Writing Your UX Case Study Introduction

Still feeling a little lost? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Follow these steps, and you’ll quickly get past the “blank page” wall that so many of us face when we start to write!

Step 1: Open an Empty Word Processor

Go ahead and open your favorite word processor.

writing a design case study

Ah, the empty page: one of the most intimidating enemies of a writer. Author / Copyright holder: Google. Copyright terms and license: Fair use.

Step 2: Create 3 Subheadings

In your document, create the following subheadings:

The problem

The solution

As we’ve discussed above, these are the 3 main components you should include in your introduction. When you create the subheadings, you’ll not only guide yourself but also quickly move away from the blank slate of an empty document.

writing a design case study

See? It’s much better already! Write down these subheadings to fight the “blank page” monster. Author / Copyright holder: Google. Copyright terms and license: Fair use.

Step 3: Fill the Subheadings Up

Start filling the 3 sections. Look at our guidelines for each section above or download our nifty template at the bottom. Type in full sentences. And, for the time being, don’t worry about your word count.

Remember to think about the visuals you can add to your introduction, too! For instance, if your case study is about a redesign of a page, it’ll be great if you include some screenshots of the existing design to highlight the design problem.

We’ll create a hypothetical UX case study introduction so you have a reference. In this made-up scenario, we want to write about a project where we created a new design system for a web-based app. We’ll focus purely on copywriting since we don’t have any visuals to provide (it is, after all, our hypothetical project), but you should also pay attention to screenshots and images in your introduction.

Here’s a rough draft of the introduction:

The problem: [Product] is one of the most established English-learning platforms in the world. However, the design of [Product] looks increasingly outdated when compared to its competitors, and parts of its user experience fell short of expectations. An overhaul feels long overdue and will help ensure that [Product] can remain competitive in the long run. The solution: We set out to completely overhaul [Product]’s look and feel and created a unifying design system that merges usability guidelines and aesthetic appeal. These changes impacted every corner of [Product]’s website, including key interactions. My role: I led the entire project and worked on creating the visual design of the new design system. I also revamped the UX of key pages and worked on motion design, while my developer colleagues applied their magic to help implement the entire project.

Step 4: Refine Your Draft

As you might have noticed, our first draft is a little long. Remember that we’re aiming for 4–5 sentences in the introduction. At this stage of the process, refine your draft. Cut down on words and improve your writing. Use the active voice and write in a conversational style. Add images and other visuals, if you haven’t already done so.

Here’s a second iteration of our introduction, this time polished and shortened to 5 sentences:

The problem: [Product] is an industry-leading English-learning platform, but its design looks outdated compared to its competitors and parts of its user experience are unpolished. An overhaul is overdue and will ensure [Product] remains competitive in the long run. The solution: We set out to create a brand-new design system to ensure [Product] encompasses best-in-class usability and aesthetics across all corners of the app. My role: I led the project and worked on all aspects of the new design system, including its visual, UX and motion design. I also revamped the UX of key pages while my developer colleagues helped implement my designs.

Step 5: Remove the Subheadings (Optional)

You can choose to leave the subheadings (The Problem, The Solution, My Role) if you like, but we feel they aren’t necessary and should be removed. In any case, you’re done! Congratulations on writing a great introduction for your UX case study!

Here’s what our hypothetical introduction looks like:

[Product] is an industry-leading English-learning platform, but its design looks outdated compared to its competitors and parts of its user experience are unpolished. An overhaul is overdue and will ensure [Product] remains competitive in the long run. We set out to create a brand-new design system to ensure [Product] encompasses best-in-class usability and aesthetics across all corners of the app. I led the project and worked on all aspects of the new design system, including its visual, UX and motion design. I also revamped the UX of key pages while my developer colleagues helped implement my designs.

In 5 sentences, our introduction:

lays out the problem we want to solve;

provides a business-oriented motivation behind the project;

briefly describes the scope of the project and its end result; and

clearly delineates my role in the project while acknowledging the support of my team.

Do a few more rounds of iteration on your introduction if you have time. There’s always room for improvement! Our sample introduction, for instance, did not contain any emotional aspects of taking on the project. Could we include that while keeping the word count at 5 sentences?

Download Our Step-by-Step Guide to Get Started Now

We know that it can be difficult to start a writing project. But the best way to get started is to do it—now! Download our step-by-step template and start working on your UX case study today:

5-Step Guide to Writing Your UX Case Study Introduction

As you write your UX case study’s introduction, know that it will mark an important milestone in your lifelong journey of writing. That’s because you’ll not only create a key artifact that will help you get a new job but also hone your craft in one of the most important elements of design: writing.

Good luck, and we hope you’ll fall in love with writing!

The Take Away

Your UX case study’s introduction should set up the context required for the reader to understand your project and evaluate your skills. Given that, you should include these 3 components:

The problem you’re solving in your project. This should include your motivations for taking on the project, which should preferably involve a business need.

The solution to the problem. You should bring your reader briefly through how you’ll solve the problem, and mention the final deliverables you’ve produced.

Your role in the project. You’ll rarely be the only contributor to a project, so you must be sure to highlight the specific things you brought to the table and give credit to your team-mates where it’s due.

References and Where to Learn More

If you need a quick lesson on how to write effectively, check out our handy guide here .

Mike Curtis shares 10 tips on how to write great UX case studies , including the need to look for “I” and “we”.

Hero image: Author / Copyright holder: Kaitlyn Baker. Copyright terms and license: Unsplash License.

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How to Write an Engaging UX Case Study

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Would you believe that a good user experience case study has the potential to get your job application noticed in the eyes of recruiters in case you get that job interview? If you are all set to share your portfolio with the hiring managers, why not take the final plunge and include the element that can transform your overall impression as a candidate entirely? 

Case studies lay out a quick roadmap in front of your recruiters that lets them get a sneak peek into your analytical and creative mind. Reading a UX case study is like your hiring manager taking a walk with you through the design problem at hand. You get to explain the process that you followed to curb the user pain points with your unique design thinking and thought process, which also captures the essence of what is a user-centered design.  

Why Case Studies Are A Game-Changer for Your Portfolio?

Case studies should reflect a curious and creative thinker within you. They should also let you demonstrate your ability to turn research and relevant insights into something concrete for design. When you’re interviewing for an analytical position such as a UX role, you’re showing off your problem-solving skills because UX is problem-solving first and design second. Your case study should demonstrate not just your process but also your ability to tackle complex problems.

process

The Anatomy Of a Great UX Case Study

A  memorable UX case study  explains in graphic detail the design process you follow throughout every stage of the design project. It pens out not only your research but also the reasoning for your ultimate design decisions while accentuating your design skills.   Let’s begin with the structure you should follow to capture everything chronologically:- Step-1: Start with “An Introduction” Step-2: Familiarise with the “Process Followed” Step-3: Lead with “The Research” Step-4: Engage with “Design Iterations” Step-5: Conclude with “Final Observations/Result” The key here is to keep the content of the case study short, crisp and to the point for hiring managers and recruiters. No one’s going to sit there and sift through your case study for an hour.  Reviewing case studies  by experienced professionals means scanning them in mere minutes and knowing whether you have what it takes or not. Also, make it a point to give each section an equal amount of attention when crafting your case study. You never know when recruiters and hiring managers might take notice of something you avoided.

The Process of Writing an Engaging UX Case Study – A Step by Step Process

Step-1: introduction.

If you don’t capture your reader’s attention in the introduction, they probably won’t continue reading. Make the introduction an engaging, concise way to set the stage for your article. Also, don’t forget to articulate the primary problem that you are aiming to solve. Here are a few elements to include in the introduction that will make your content crisp and self-explanatory:- i) Overview of the company: What is this company’s identity? What do they do, and what are their goals and mission statement? ii) Challenge the company was facing: What was the pain point you decided to tackle? What was the ultimate question you were trying to answer? What difficulties do you encounter while addressing the problem at hand? iii) How do you fit in the picture : What was your role in the project? What were the timelines? Were there any constraints that affected the project? iv) Your Take : A methodology is a specified, systematic approach to solving problems or performing tasks. What methods did you use to comprehensively analyze your user data? What methods did you use to test your idea? v) Conclusion : Elaborate on the conclusion for the end product and wrap up with a fully defined objective which you’ve completed and deliverables. Reminder- Don’t go overboard with details in this section, we will get to it later.

Step-2: Process

When highlighting your process, make sure to be explicit about which UX research methods you used and how they helped influence your  design decisions . You should : i) identify the  UX design problem s that you faced with a problem statement, ii) show how you approached the project in terms of information architecture, iii) show how you interacted with your users in order to gather relevant metrics and understand their needs through good ux iv) show what research methods did you implement etc. Explaining the methodology you used to accomplish a specific task is crucial for recruiters and hiring managers to know. 

testing observing user behavior 2

Step-3: User Research

Now is the time to walk everyone through your UX design case study process. It works like a hypothesis that can get approved or rejected based on your findings. So there’s no right or wrong answer to it. This gives you an opportunity to elaborate on the methods you came up with the former stage and bring action-oriented improvements to the process.   The way to go about it is to briefly explain the design research techniques you used (card sorting, user persona, usability testing, etc.), why you chose these specific techniques, and what outcome you hoped to achieve. Ultimately, your research ends with how effective your UX design solution proved for the users.

Step-4: UX Design Decisions

When you start the design phase, you look back at your research and start thinking about how you could design to accommodate your findings. Use the results of your research to inform your design decisions. This is an important part of user-centered design. Take the findings from your user research and apply them to your designs. If your project is to build a new site or landing page, make sure each iteration includes visual design mockups. You can include steps such as: i) Sitemaps ii) User Flows iii) User Journeys iv) Paper wireframes v) Medium/High fidelity wireframes v) Prototypes

uxpin design color mobile

Step-5: Result

Employers should be able to quickly and easily find the content that’s most relevant to what they want to know about. To show your final UX design, you can use any tool that suits your needs. It can be a wireframe, high-fidelity mockup , or even something more sophisticated like an interactive prototype. Don’t forget to link to the source and voila! You’re done! If you want to show off your skills and use an intuitive tool for that, try out UXPin . Take your interactive prototyping to a higher level.

By following these steps, you can turn a good case study into a relevant  design portfolio  piece that showcases your problem-solving skills while bringing your creative side to the table to achieve maximum harmony between functionality and aesthetically fine design work. At the end of the day, the whole point behind a case study is to establish expertise in the area of UX research and design and be perceived as a UX professional in the eyes of potential prospects. Use an intuitive design tool that will help you show your skills – sign up for a 14-day trial .

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How to write a case study — examples, templates, and tools

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It’s a marketer’s job to communicate the effectiveness of a product or service to potential and current customers to convince them to buy and keep business moving. One of the best methods for doing this is to share success stories that are relatable to prospects and customers based on their pain points, experiences, and overall needs.

That’s where case studies come in. Case studies are an essential part of a content marketing plan. These in-depth stories of customer experiences are some of the most effective at demonstrating the value of a product or service. Yet many marketers don’t use them, whether because of their regimented formats or the process of customer involvement and approval.

A case study is a powerful tool for showcasing your hard work and the success your customer achieved. But writing a great case study can be difficult if you’ve never done it before or if it’s been a while. This guide will show you how to write an effective case study and provide real-world examples and templates that will keep readers engaged and support your business.

In this article, you’ll learn:

What is a case study?

How to write a case study, case study templates, case study examples, case study tools.

A case study is the detailed story of a customer’s experience with a product or service that demonstrates their success and often includes measurable outcomes. Case studies are used in a range of fields and for various reasons, from business to academic research. They’re especially impactful in marketing as brands work to convince and convert consumers with relatable, real-world stories of actual customer experiences.

The best case studies tell the story of a customer’s success, including the steps they took, the results they achieved, and the support they received from a brand along the way. To write a great case study, you need to:

  • Celebrate the customer and make them — not a product or service — the star of the story.
  • Craft the story with specific audiences or target segments in mind so that the story of one customer will be viewed as relatable and actionable for another customer.
  • Write copy that is easy to read and engaging so that readers will gain the insights and messages intended.
  • Follow a standardized format that includes all of the essentials a potential customer would find interesting and useful.
  • Support all of the claims for success made in the story with data in the forms of hard numbers and customer statements.

Case studies are a type of review but more in depth, aiming to show — rather than just tell — the positive experiences that customers have with a brand. Notably, 89% of consumers read reviews before deciding to buy, and 79% view case study content as part of their purchasing process. When it comes to B2B sales, 52% of buyers rank case studies as an important part of their evaluation process.

Telling a brand story through the experience of a tried-and-true customer matters. The story is relatable to potential new customers as they imagine themselves in the shoes of the company or individual featured in the case study. Showcasing previous customers can help new ones see themselves engaging with your brand in the ways that are most meaningful to them.

Besides sharing the perspective of another customer, case studies stand out from other content marketing forms because they are based on evidence. Whether pulling from client testimonials or data-driven results, case studies tend to have more impact on new business because the story contains information that is both objective (data) and subjective (customer experience) — and the brand doesn’t sound too self-promotional.

89% of consumers read reviews before buying, 79% view case studies, and 52% of B2B buyers prioritize case studies in the evaluation process.

Case studies are unique in that there’s a fairly standardized format for telling a customer’s story. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity. It’s all about making sure that teams are clear on the goals for the case study — along with strategies for supporting content and channels — and understanding how the story fits within the framework of the company’s overall marketing goals.

Here are the basic steps to writing a good case study.

1. Identify your goal

Start by defining exactly who your case study will be designed to help. Case studies are about specific instances where a company works with a customer to achieve a goal. Identify which customers are likely to have these goals, as well as other needs the story should cover to appeal to them.

The answer is often found in one of the buyer personas that have been constructed as part of your larger marketing strategy. This can include anything from new leads generated by the marketing team to long-term customers that are being pressed for cross-sell opportunities. In all of these cases, demonstrating value through a relatable customer success story can be part of the solution to conversion.

2. Choose your client or subject

Who you highlight matters. Case studies tie brands together that might otherwise not cross paths. A writer will want to ensure that the highlighted customer aligns with their own company’s brand identity and offerings. Look for a customer with positive name recognition who has had great success with a product or service and is willing to be an advocate.

The client should also match up with the identified target audience. Whichever company or individual is selected should be a reflection of other potential customers who can see themselves in similar circumstances, having the same problems and possible solutions.

Some of the most compelling case studies feature customers who:

  • Switch from one product or service to another while naming competitors that missed the mark.
  • Experience measurable results that are relatable to others in a specific industry.
  • Represent well-known brands and recognizable names that are likely to compel action.
  • Advocate for a product or service as a champion and are well-versed in its advantages.

Whoever or whatever customer is selected, marketers must ensure they have the permission of the company involved before getting started. Some brands have strict review and approval procedures for any official marketing or promotional materials that include their name. Acquiring those approvals in advance will prevent any miscommunication or wasted effort if there is an issue with their legal or compliance teams.

3. Conduct research and compile data

Substantiating the claims made in a case study — either by the marketing team or customers themselves — adds validity to the story. To do this, include data and feedback from the client that defines what success looks like. This can be anything from demonstrating return on investment (ROI) to a specific metric the customer was striving to improve. Case studies should prove how an outcome was achieved and show tangible results that indicate to the customer that your solution is the right one.

This step could also include customer interviews. Make sure that the people being interviewed are key stakeholders in the purchase decision or deployment and use of the product or service that is being highlighted. Content writers should work off a set list of questions prepared in advance. It can be helpful to share these with the interviewees beforehand so they have time to consider and craft their responses. One of the best interview tactics to keep in mind is to ask questions where yes and no are not natural answers. This way, your subject will provide more open-ended responses that produce more meaningful content.

4. Choose the right format

There are a number of different ways to format a case study. Depending on what you hope to achieve, one style will be better than another. However, there are some common elements to include, such as:

  • An engaging headline
  • A subject and customer introduction
  • The unique challenge or challenges the customer faced
  • The solution the customer used to solve the problem
  • The results achieved
  • Data and statistics to back up claims of success
  • A strong call to action (CTA) to engage with the vendor

It’s also important to note that while case studies are traditionally written as stories, they don’t have to be in a written format. Some companies choose to get more creative with their case studies and produce multimedia content, depending on their audience and objectives. Case study formats can include traditional print stories, interactive web or social content, data-heavy infographics, professionally shot videos, podcasts, and more.

5. Write your case study

We’ll go into more detail later about how exactly to write a case study, including templates and examples. Generally speaking, though, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing your case study.

  • Be clear and concise. Readers want to get to the point of the story quickly and easily, and they’ll be looking to see themselves reflected in the story right from the start.
  • Provide a big picture. Always make sure to explain who the client is, their goals, and how they achieved success in a short introduction to engage the reader.
  • Construct a clear narrative. Stick to the story from the perspective of the customer and what they needed to solve instead of just listing product features or benefits.
  • Leverage graphics. Incorporating infographics, charts, and sidebars can be a more engaging and eye-catching way to share key statistics and data in readable ways.
  • Offer the right amount of detail. Most case studies are one or two pages with clear sections that a reader can skim to find the information most important to them.
  • Include data to support claims. Show real results — both facts and figures and customer quotes — to demonstrate credibility and prove the solution works.

6. Promote your story

Marketers have a number of options for distribution of a freshly minted case study. Many brands choose to publish case studies on their website and post them on social media. This can help support SEO and organic content strategies while also boosting company credibility and trust as visitors see that other businesses have used the product or service.

Marketers are always looking for quality content they can use for lead generation. Consider offering a case study as gated content behind a form on a landing page or as an offer in an email message. One great way to do this is to summarize the content and tease the full story available for download after the user takes an action.

Sales teams can also leverage case studies, so be sure they are aware that the assets exist once they’re published. Especially when it comes to larger B2B sales, companies often ask for examples of similar customer challenges that have been solved.

Now that you’ve learned a bit about case studies and what they should include, you may be wondering how to start creating great customer story content. Here are a couple of templates you can use to structure your case study.

Template 1 — Challenge-solution-result format

  • Start with an engaging title. This should be fewer than 70 characters long for SEO best practices. One of the best ways to approach the title is to include the customer’s name and a hint at the challenge they overcame in the end.
  • Create an introduction. Lead with an explanation as to who the customer is, the need they had, and the opportunity they found with a specific product or solution. Writers can also suggest the success the customer experienced with the solution they chose.
  • Present the challenge. This should be several paragraphs long and explain the problem the customer faced and the issues they were trying to solve. Details should tie into the company’s products and services naturally. This section needs to be the most relatable to the reader so they can picture themselves in a similar situation.
  • Share the solution. Explain which product or service offered was the ideal fit for the customer and why. Feel free to delve into their experience setting up, purchasing, and onboarding the solution.
  • Explain the results. Demonstrate the impact of the solution they chose by backing up their positive experience with data. Fill in with customer quotes and tangible, measurable results that show the effect of their choice.
  • Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that invites readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to nurture them further in the marketing pipeline. What you ask of the reader should tie directly into the goals that were established for the case study in the first place.

Template 2 — Data-driven format

  • Start with an engaging title. Be sure to include a statistic or data point in the first 70 characters. Again, it’s best to include the customer’s name as part of the title.
  • Create an overview. Share the customer’s background and a short version of the challenge they faced. Present the reason a particular product or service was chosen, and feel free to include quotes from the customer about their selection process.
  • Present data point 1. Isolate the first metric that the customer used to define success and explain how the product or solution helped to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
  • Present data point 2. Isolate the second metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
  • Present data point 3. Isolate the final metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
  • Summarize the results. Reiterate the fact that the customer was able to achieve success thanks to a specific product or service. Include quotes and statements that reflect customer satisfaction and suggest they plan to continue using the solution.
  • Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that asks readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to further nurture them in the marketing pipeline. Again, remember that this is where marketers can look to convert their content into action with the customer.

While templates are helpful, seeing a case study in action can also be a great way to learn. Here are some examples of how Adobe customers have experienced success.

Juniper Networks

One example is the Adobe and Juniper Networks case study , which puts the reader in the customer’s shoes. The beginning of the story quickly orients the reader so that they know exactly who the article is about and what they were trying to achieve. Solutions are outlined in a way that shows Adobe Experience Manager is the best choice and a natural fit for the customer. Along the way, quotes from the client are incorporated to help add validity to the statements. The results in the case study are conveyed with clear evidence of scale and volume using tangible data.

A Lenovo case study showing statistics, a pull quote and featured headshot, the headline "The customer is king.," and Adobe product links.

The story of Lenovo’s journey with Adobe is one that spans years of planning, implementation, and rollout. The Lenovo case study does a great job of consolidating all of this into a relatable journey that other enterprise organizations can see themselves taking, despite the project size. This case study also features descriptive headers and compelling visual elements that engage the reader and strengthen the content.

Tata Consulting

When it comes to using data to show customer results, this case study does an excellent job of conveying details and numbers in an easy-to-digest manner. Bullet points at the start break up the content while also helping the reader understand exactly what the case study will be about. Tata Consulting used Adobe to deliver elevated, engaging content experiences for a large telecommunications client of its own — an objective that’s relatable for a lot of companies.

Case studies are a vital tool for any marketing team as they enable you to demonstrate the value of your company’s products and services to others. They help marketers do their job and add credibility to a brand trying to promote its solutions by using the experiences and stories of real customers.

When you’re ready to get started with a case study:

  • Think about a few goals you’d like to accomplish with your content.
  • Make a list of successful clients that would be strong candidates for a case study.
  • Reach out to the client to get their approval and conduct an interview.
  • Gather the data to present an engaging and effective customer story.

Adobe can help

There are several Adobe products that can help you craft compelling case studies. Adobe Experience Platform helps you collect data and deliver great customer experiences across every channel. Once you’ve created your case studies, Experience Platform will help you deliver the right information to the right customer at the right time for maximum impact.

To learn more, watch the Adobe Experience Platform story .

Keep in mind that the best case studies are backed by data. That’s where Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform and Adobe Analytics come into play. With Real-Time CDP, you can gather the data you need to build a great case study and target specific customers to deliver the content to the right audience at the perfect moment.

Watch the Real-Time CDP overview video to learn more.

Finally, Adobe Analytics turns real-time data into real-time insights. It helps your business collect and synthesize data from multiple platforms to make more informed decisions and create the best case study possible.

Request a demo to learn more about Adobe Analytics.

https://business.adobe.com/blog/perspectives/b2b-ecommerce-10-case-studies-inspire-you

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Case study definition

writing a design case study

Case study, a term which some of you may know from the "Case Study of Vanitas" anime and manga, is a thorough examination of a particular subject, such as a person, group, location, occasion, establishment, phenomena, etc. They are most frequently utilized in research of business, medicine, education and social behaviour. There are a different types of case studies that researchers might use:

• Collective case studies

• Descriptive case studies

• Explanatory case studies

• Exploratory case studies

• Instrumental case studies

• Intrinsic case studies

Case studies are usually much more sophisticated and professional than regular essays and courseworks, as they require a lot of verified data, are research-oriented and not necessarily designed to be read by the general public.

How to write a case study?

It very much depends on the topic of your case study, as a medical case study and a coffee business case study have completely different sources, outlines, target demographics, etc. But just for this example, let's outline a coffee roaster case study. Firstly, it's likely going to be a problem-solving case study, like most in the business and economics field are. Here are some tips for these types of case studies:

• Your case scenario should be precisely defined in terms of your unique assessment criteria.

• Determine the primary issues by analyzing the scenario. Think about how they connect to the main ideas and theories in your piece.

• Find and investigate any theories or methods that might be relevant to your case.

• Keep your audience in mind. Exactly who are your stakeholder(s)? If writing a case study on coffee roasters, it's probably gonna be suppliers, landlords, investors, customers, etc.

• Indicate the best solution(s) and how they should be implemented. Make sure your suggestions are grounded in pertinent theories and useful resources, as well as being realistic, practical, and attainable.

• Carefully proofread your case study. Keep in mind these four principles when editing: clarity, honesty, reality and relevance.

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Methodology

  • What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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See an example

writing a design case study

Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

  • Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
  • Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
  • Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
  • Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

  • Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
  • Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
  • Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

  • Normal distribution
  • Degrees of freedom
  • Null hypothesis
  • Discourse analysis
  • Control groups
  • Mixed methods research
  • Non-probability sampling
  • Quantitative research
  • Ecological validity

Research bias

  • Rosenthal effect
  • Implicit bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Selection bias
  • Negativity bias
  • Status quo bias

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, November 20). What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved February 21, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/case-study/

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