Writing UX case study-A quick guide
- Why is honing the skill of UX writing important?
- How does it help aspiring UX candidates?
- What is the role of a UX case study in a portfolio?
- How to write a brilliant UX case study?
UX is a new field, brimming with opportunities and there is a lot of competition. So, to stand out of the crowd, the aspiring UX candidates must acknowledge the importance of UX writing. The employers’ in the field are not just looking for candidates with a portfolio full of exceptional deliverables, they want to know how the decisions to curate such exceptionally good designs are made. A well written UX case study makes the portfolio strong as it is self explanatory.
Thus, it is important for the aspirants to understand that articulating the design decisions are as important as curating deliverables because it is one of the key demands of the UX Professional’s role. As a UX designer, you are accountable for the design decisions that you take, hence you have to justify your work all the time. Writing case studies helps you to do the same. Your project makes much more sense when it is well written.
Writing is one of the important factors while building a strong UX portfolio. Yes, writing is not very easy but it’s not that difficult too. While following the format suggested below, one can easily understand how to write a UX case study.
1. Structure your case study
To begin with the case study, start with the structure or anatomy. It is like a framework for the entire project.
Anatomy of a UX case study includes 7 sections:
1.1 Overview:
This is where you leave the first impression on your reader. So make sure that you give a quick glimpse of your project to the reader by making the context clear right at the beginning.
1.2 Problem statement
Define the problem, write the goals and expected results of your project distinctly and do not skip to mention the importance of your project or/and the idea behind it.
1.3 Users and audience
Describe your user/target audience. Help the reader understand why you are doing the project keeping that specific user group in mind, so that they are on the same page as you and understand the clear relativity. Include research, graphs, statistics to back up what you are saying.
1.4 Roles and responsibilities
Don’t forget to mention about your role in the project and the key responsibilities that you handled during the process.
1.5 Scope and constraints
Write about the various possibilities of your project and document the constraints faced while doing the project, for example, timeline or budget.
1.6 Process and your contribution
A detailed step by step documentation of what you did backed up by a rational answer to why you did it.
1.7 Outcomes and lessons learned
Give a satisfactory closure to your project. Mention if you achieved the desired goals. Write about the new findings and learnings and conclude with the major takeaways from your project.
2. Writing your UX Case Study
First of all, put it all on the paper and then sort it as you want to put it in the portfolio. Begin writing, and during the process, you can add visuals too if you think that fits better than the text in the portfolio. The main idea is to let the portfolio viewer understand the design decisions without having to explain.
2.1 Give an ‘Explanatory’ Title
Give enough details to the “title”, to give the reader an idea about the case study. A good title will answer the following questions:
- What app is the project about?
- What are you doing?
- For what?
Example: Uber App user research for app redesign.
2.2 Write the Outline
An outline is basically the anatomy of a case study that helps to put the entire content in an understandable and orderly manner.
2.3 Fill in the Details
Start filling in the details of the case study, now that you have an outline.
Introduce the project to the reader. It must answer the following question:
- How did you decide to do the undertaken project?/ Observation
- Why the chosen project?
- What is the project?
Let’s understand this with a hypothetical example:
Bad example: We designed an app for book lovers.
Good example: We designed a book sharing app for the ones who prefer conventional style of reading over online reading. The idea came from the observation made in our social group where we all bought different books and exchanged it among ourselves for two reasons: first, it saved money and second, the variety of books available for reading increased. With this observation, we carried out research on users’ reading habits and also gathered information on why conventional style of book reading is better than “screen” reading and hence developed the app, considering the outcome of the research.
Process section will be an elaborate documentation as this is where you put your contribution in the project. This section should answer the following:
- What did you do? For example, you can write about the research method that you used.
- Why did you do it? Like, why did you opt for the particular research method?
- What was the result? Write about the achievement or failure of your desired research goal.
- What did you learn? Mention about the learning and key takeaways from your current project.
This section is where you articulate your design decisions.
2.4 Write apt headlines
Good headlines help the reader to skim through the project. Write headlines for each section in one or maximum two lines highlighting the key points. Keep it short and simple except for the process section where you have the liberty to elaborate.
2.5 Incorporate the filtered text from UX case study into your portfolio
Try to write with clarity and suffice, go through the content again and again, get it reviewed by experts.
Here’s a quick tip to check the accuracy of your case study using a simple trick — try writing the headings as slides of a presentation and see if it makes sense, if it does, the problem is solved and if it does not, then you must look into the writing again.
3. Things to remember while writing your UX case study
3.1 Document the entire process and not just the deliverables.
3.2 Use your visual design skills to present the content in easy to read format.
3.3 Treat the UX case study as important as any other design challenge.
3.4 Respect the NDAs (if you signed any) while documenting the case study.
3.5 Give due credits.
Key Takeaway
Of Course, the kind of project you do is of great importance but writing a case study is as essential as the project itself, in the current scenario of the UX world. A well written UX case study forms the foundation of your portfolio and helps you to showcase your idea, problem solving ability and decision making skills along with the design skills to the potential employers.
By following the above suggested steps you can effectively write your case study which is self explanatory, easy to read and scannable for the reader of your portfolio.
Kustard.design is a top design company that helps organizations design digital products that keep users in mind, and are centered around providing them with the best features and smoothest experiences.
