Moreover, report-like case studies take lots of effort to write but turn off design managers instantly as they see the same cookie-cutter projects over and over again.

To avoid it, try to write a story following a ‘Story arc’. The story arc is a structure found in literature & film that represents a progression of a story through 3 stages: beginning → middle → end. When applying in the case study, just replace it with

1️⃣ Context → 2️⃣ Process → 3️⃣ Results.

1. Context

1️⃣ Catchy title and cover image.

Make sure the cover image represents the project idea (think of it as a dribbble shot, it should grab attention). In the titles highlight the project domain, value, and impact (If possible).

👉 Example: Redesigning POS user experience for 1.2m DAU waiters.

​

2️⃣ About the product

Add product value prop, history, and important context.

👉 Example: [Product X] is a family of products historically built on premises for thousands of restaurants for 30 years. This enabled a range of inconsistencies, multiple platform architectures that need support, and multiple sizes & devices.

💡Tip: Before diving into the project details, add a TL;DR. Design managers (who are super busy) would really appreciate it.

3️⃣ Team and your role

If it was a collaboration (which is a skill you always want to highlight in the PD portfolio), make sure you explained your impact on the project.

👉 Example:

• Team: Design lead & 2 senior designers.
• My role was to: Analyse existing design patterns and come up with a consistent and adaptive design system library.

​

4️⃣ Problems

Answer the question: What was the project trigger, issues, and needs, and why it was prioritized?

👉 Example: Multiple code bases Architectural limitations Truly outdated UI language On-prem solutions are more scalable.

5️⃣ Goals & Vision

These are usually derived and reframed from problems. Sometimes I like to use HMW to make the project goals sound more actionable. Other times I also like to throw a “Vision Statement” if it was a big project.

👉 Example:​
Goals

• Consistent UX across all platforms and devices.
• Modern UX
• Responsive and adjustable UX

Vision Statement:
Become a truly cross-platform order entry and payment interface for Product [X].

​

2. Process

1️⃣ Research insights

Don’t start by saying what research methods you’ve used. That’s reporting.

✴️ Focus on the key insights. What were your AHA moments that defined your project direction? The insights you’ve uncovered tell a story. Not research methods that design managers see everywhere. But don’t get me wrong, do mention research methods, just not in the first place as section titles.

​

2️⃣ Ideation

👉 Share whiteboarding sketches.

👉 Share workshop sticky notes.

👉 Share concepts you formed.

🏔️ That's a peak of the story arc and the juiciest part of a case study. It communicates your thinking - what you’re being hired for. Don’t make it look perfect. The design process is messy and authenticity is your ace.

Finally, share what and why you chose as the final concept. Did you select it based on your critical thinking or using exercises like the impact/effort scale?

​

3️⃣ Designing stage

There are 3 components to communicating your designs:

👉 Remind the context

Key scenarios / user stories. Again, focus on the story, not reporting.

• Do: As a waiter, I want the POS to display order statuses, so I can...
• Don’t do: Here are IA and flowchart images.

👉 Share prototype links/videos

I prefer videos over prototypes (as prototype links have too many hotspots which can be distrustful).

👉 Share details you’re most proud of.

Example: Interactions, delights, witty copy, before/after.

4️⃣ Validation

👉 What was your hypothesis? What scenarios you’ve tested?

👉 Top 3 testing insights and how you’ve updated your design.

Again, don’t mention the methods you’ve used in the titles, write a story.

Do: Users tend to skip the payment step which leads to a 20% dropout.

Don’t do: I’ve run 20 quantitative usability tests to learn about user issues.

3. Results

The resolution part. That's where design managers learn if it was all worth it. This part should be also written from a story, not a reporting perspective. There are 2 components to communicating your results:

​

1️⃣ Impact

👉 How did you measure your results?

👉What metrics you chose and why? How did they perform? Can you calculate the ROI?

👉If not, can you approximate your testing results to the business impact? E.g. SUS correlates with NPS.

​

2️⃣ Learnings

👉 If there were any conflicts, how you’ve resolved them?

👉 What were your key lessons?

👉 Looking back what would you improve?

​

Into UX jobs course update

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