How to German Suplex your case study when looking for a job as a Product Designer
I. What is this article about?
a. The case study
Interviews are done, you have presented yourself and your experiences, your previous projects have been questioned and explained, the company wants to see how you are thinking before hiring you, here comes the dreaded case study.
This article is here to give you a strong methodology on how to organize yourself to produce the best case study for the job you are looking to get.
I wrote this article since it was something I would have loved to read when looking for a job. This is the result of doing several case studies, failing some of them, as well as exploring the Internet and getting feedback from Senior Product Designers on their methods. Hope this helps with your future applications.
b. The Double Diamond process
For all my previous case studies, as well as at work, I would use the Double Diamond Approach, this is what I will be explaining in this article. It is a rock-solid process that helps you be creative, organized, and focused on the problem. It has been used by a lot of Product Designers around the world over the years and might just be the best for you today.
c. The difference between a case study and the real world
As a reminder, this is a case study, meaning you won’t have the time nor the means to achieve what a Product Designer or a UX/UI Designer in the company can do.
Whenever you are going through each phase it is important to think about :
- What you will achieve by yourself for this case study
- What you would do if you were in the company
This will help you during the presentation to be more confident about what you are saying (the work you have done) and also shows what more you would have done if you were part of the team.
No time to read? Head to the bottom of the page for a cheat sheet that will guide you throughout your case study. Or find it here.
II. Search phase
a. Brief and context
First of all, start by analyzing the subject the company gives you:
- The scope of the project
- The problems the company is trying to solve
- The target users
- The current product
The goal here is to get the right amount of information to kick-start the project in the right direction. It is also the right time to go and find articles, videos, and anything that would help you know more about the company. Here at Doctolib, we have a YouTube channel, a Medium page, and a Doctolib Community page. You can also ask someone from the company to answer some of your questions. Don’t be afraid, this shows how committed you are to answering the problem.
There are generally 2 main subjects in use cases:
- The launch of a new product
- The improvement of a current product
Either way, you have to take a step back and look at the company as a whole, the industry, the competition, and gather some information about that (if you haven’t done it during your first interviews).
b. Set your success metrics for the project
Let’s face it, you are not part of the company, you don’t know anything (unless asked) about their metrics and what they want to achieve. It is imperative to set some success metrics that you will try to achieve with your solution.
These success metrics can be focused on the user or the business, but you have to choose them wisely.
The metrics you are using should guide your work and not the other way around. What do you want to achieve? What will the company or the product look like before and after your project is live?
As an example:
- Increase the number of reservations
- Decrease bounce rate
- Increase click rate
In addition, I always try to think outside the product and see what major events may impact the results of your project. Recently, it was quite easy as Covid-19 impacted a lot of business (some in a good way) but these considerations may come from the law, from another country changing its policy, or from a competitor recently merging with another company for example. This shows that you have a global view.
c. Research plan
What do you expect to do with this research plan? What are the goals and your expected results?
Define some hypotheses that will lead the questions of both your quantitative and qualitative research.
- Quantitative research: A simple form sent to your friends or actual users of the solution (to find the users, search for Facebook groups, Slack groups, forums, etc…)
- Qualitative research: Interviewing one or more people (prepare a solid survey and try not to ask guided questions)
The first part will display your process and be used if you were in the company. I won’t go into too many details as each process is different based on the company and the situation, however, be confident in what you are saying. The interviewer surely will challenge you with questions.
When you are done with the interviews and have all the results in front of you, start organizing:
- Prioritize the most important criteria used by a user to do this action
- List the main issues of the user to do that action
- Differentiate each persona
Ready? Start your research!
III. Definition phase
a. Research report
Research is done, you have all the answers to your questions, and now it’s time to share them with the interviewer.
You will not show these answers as they are, you need to organize the feedback into meaningful inputs that will have a positive impact on the product.
- Go back to your results
- Organize them by subjects
- Prioritize the right feedback/verbatims for a specific problem
It is important to stick to some of your hypotheses here and try to see if the feedback you have received from your Search Phase validates your assumptions or not, then you will see what the main subjects will be about.
b. Personas
Based on the few interviews that you did (“I’m sure you did them, right?”) you may have seen one or more personas and how they use the product. Don’t hesitate to give them life, they will help you go in one direction or the other.
If you have two personas using the product differently you have the choice, to keep them both in mind when designing your solution or focusing on one. This will depend on many factors: costs, profitability, etc… You just need to have a good explanation of why you are focusing on one instead of another.
c. How Might We (HMW)
You’ve got your challenges and feedback from your users, reframe them into questions that will help you think outside the box during the ideation phase. If you can think about 3 or 4 ideas that can answer your HMW, then it is just right. You mustn’t be too broad or narrow with your HMW, here are good examples that I found in this article to illustrate what a good HMW is:
A good example
“How might we design a product that makes our users feel confident and secure during their online financial transactions?”
An example that is too narrow
“How might we design a product that helps users deposit their paycheques in three easy steps by using a guided workflow?”
An example that is too broad
“How might we design the world’s most innovative banking app?”
This last exercise concludes the first diamond, you now have a clear problem that you will focus on and it’s time to design your solution.
IV. Ideation phase
a. Tools and workshops
Similar to the research, you have a lot of tools and workshops in your arsenal to do the ideation, the problem will remain the same, the time and the number of people you have with you. Most of the workshops are made with other people to go as broad as possible in the ideation.
For a case study try to select the right workshop you want to use and try to do one by yourself, it is less fun than doing it in a group, however, the context of the workshop can help you find new ideas that you didn’t think off.
Organize the workshops and their results following the HMW that you previously set in the definition phase.
As I said in the first part, present what you would be doing normally in a company and then what you worked on. Select the ones you are more comfortable with and adapt them to the scope of the project.
b. Design
Based on your previous workshops, it’s time to get busy!
Preparation first
- Look if the company has a design system available
- If it’s a website, the inspect feature (right-click and select inspect) on Chrome can be a lifesaver
When designing
- Go back to your ideation phase and list the features
- Benchmarking existing solutions (for each feature, at least 2 or 3 examples)
- Lots of pens and paper, wireframing
- Take short-cuts (find some design kits and adapt them to your feature)
Once you feel confident about your design, start prototyping, once you feel that it’s done, test it!
V. Refinement phase
a. Improving the solution
Ask your friends, your mother or father, an ex-colleague, anyone that might use the kind of product you are working on, and start the testing. If you have more time go on a Facebook group, a Slack channel, or anything seeking criticism on your UX and your UI. Take them into account and start improving your prototype before your presentation.
b. Thinking long term
Think about what you would have done in the company! A prototype? An interview with some testing to do? Some AB testing? You only tested your solution with 3–4 users, it’s time to think bigger!
c. Checking the KPIs
You had some success metrics goals to measure the success of your solution when defining the scope of the project, right? Then, it’s time to say how these goals will be met with the KPIs.
Think about the one you will measure in the short term, long term, and what part of the solution you will focus on.
VI. Deliverables
The way you present your work is always personal, this is my approach but it can be different for you.
- A cool presentation from the full process (what you want to do and what you would do in the team)
- A clean prototype
- A well-presented file (you may have to send it at the end)
Conclusion
This seems like a lot but you have to remember, you want to invest as much time working on your case study as you want the job. If you have the feeling that it’s too much, maybe the company is not for you. Design is all about grit and tenacity, if the company doesn’t move you enough, chances are that you will be discouraged after some time.
A presentation is not about what you show on slides, you need to be able to back your thinking and your decision with examples and well-thought arguments.
I wish you all the best for your next job interviews and case study presentations. Please, don’t hesitate to share your knowledge or your case studies feedback in the comments below!
Case study cheatsheet
Search Phase
- Brief and context
- Hypotheses
- Research plan
Definition Phase
- Research reports
- Persona
- HMW
Ideation Phase
- Ideate
- Design
- Prototyping
Refinement Phase
- Improving the design
Deliverables
- A cool presentation
- A clean prototype
- A clean Figma file
