2 case study tips that are often missed by designers

I’m a Product Design Director that has been working through design challenges for the last 26 years, with the last 10 years leading and growing teams. I’m currently looking for my next role and have been reviewing designers' case studies on adplist.org as a way to support the community and add some variety to my day.?

There are two things that seem to be missing from a large number of case studies that I look at. I’d love to share what those are to help you create and share a more complete view into your design process through an effective case study.

1. What does success look like?

The typical format for a case study goes like this; provide context, define the problem, gather and analyze insights from research and analytics, outline the architecture and flows or screens, (going wide and narrowing options is often missed, but that’s a different story), prototype, test, build, iterate. Great things to include in a case study!?

If this is how you’re structuring your case studies, you're missing the step between context and defining the problem where you outline what success looks like. What I often see are goals like “Redesign the home page” or “Redesign the app” but it’s hard to believe that any company or team would ask someone to redesign something just for the sake of redesigning it! There’s some other reason. Something that’s not performing as expected or there’s untapped potential.?

At this point in the process, you should be asking yourself why this project is important and what would success look like.

What am I helping someone or something accomplish? How does this contribute to a larger strategy? By asking these questions you begin to uncover what success looks like beyond “make this thing better” and looks more like “Increase the conversion rate of people accomplishing a specific task” or “Decrease the number of people getting stuck at a particular part of the experience” and even better “increase revenue by…”.?

If you determine and state these measurements of success up front you’ll have something to help guide decisions, align your work to business goals, and ultimately determine what you’ll measure at the end to validate that you accomplished your goals.?

2. Tell the story from your perspective

As a hiring manager, the thing that I’m looking for and—hope to see in a case study—is a window into your thought process, exploration, decisions, conflicts, change in direction, etc. that all add up to the journey that you took through your design process.?

I often see an outline of what a typical design process looks like making up the standard sections of a case study. This isn’t bad, you should have a product design process that feels familiar to the team that you’re interviewing for. They’re asking themselves “Will this person be able to do their job and solve problems using design methods and techniques?".?

The thing that’s missing is your personal point of view.?

• What Aha moments did you uncover during research??
• How did bringing together a diverse group of people open your eyes to new perspectives or ideas during the ideation phase? Maybe share some photos or describe the brainstorming workshop??
• When did you realize that you should change direction and how did you convince the rest of the team to do this? Maybe add some quotes from team members??
• What was a challenge, how did you feel and how did you resolve it? What did you learn??

How you navigate the steps that you took along this journey is as important as what the steps were that you took! The best case study leaves me with a clearer picture of who you are as a person and how you might navigate the messy world of design if you were to work on a team that we’re hiring for.?

One more tip that makes this all a bit more difficult

Make your case study as concise and easy to scan as possible.

I know, I just asked that people add more content to your case study. The reality is that a hiring manager has a lot of potential candidates to look at, in addition to the rest of the things on their plates.?

Do what you can to help these hiring managers skim your case study and decide if they want to dig deeper into the content. Think about content hierarchy, headlines, subheads, pull quotes, etc. as ways to outline the general story without relying on people reading paragraphs on top of paragraphs of information.?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you find it helpful share with others! If you're looking for more help in navigating the job market as a product designer or design leader come find me on ADPList for a chat!

Chad Mortensen

Bonus from Bard…

And if you would like a general outline of what a good case study looks like here’s what Bard has to say. Hat tip to the various sources of content on the internet that Bard used to compile this…?

5 Tips for Creating a Great Product Design Case Study

Product design case studies are an essential part of any designer's portfolio. They allow you to showcase your skills, process, and results in a way that is both informative and engaging. But how do you create a great case study? Here are five tips:

• Start with a strong problem statement. What was the challenge that you were faced with? Why was it important to solve this problem? The better you can articulate the problem, the better your case study will be.
• Explain your design process. How did you go about solving the problem? What were your different iterations? What were the key decisions that you made? By explaining your process, you can give readers a better understanding of how you think and how you work.
• Showcase your design work. This is where you get to show off your skills! Include wireframes, mockups, prototypes, and final designs. The more visual evidence you can provide, the better.
• Quantify your results. What were the results of your design? How did it impact the user experience? How did it improve the business? By quantifying your results, you can provide concrete evidence of the value of your work.
• Tell a story. A great case study is more than just a list of facts and figures. It's a story about how you solved a problem and made a difference. By telling a story, you can engage readers and make your case study more memorable.

By following these tips, you can create a product design case study that is both informative and engaging. This will help you to showcase your skills and land your dream job.

Here are some additional tips for creating a great product design case study:

• Be clear and concise. No one wants to read a long, rambling case study. Get to the point and make sure that your writing is clear and easy to understand.
• Use visuals. Visuals can help to break up your text and make your case study more engaging. Use images, screenshots, and diagrams to illustrate your points.
• Get feedback. Once you've written your case study, ask a friend, colleague, or mentor to review it. Get their feedback on the clarity, conciseness, and overall effectiveness of your writing.