Case Studies are about solving business challenges
Starting my work at Parkside last November I took over responsibility for creating the company’s case studies — the eclectic selection of client projects representing Parkside’s approach to solving business challenges, our knowledge and experience domains.
The assignment gave me a great opportunity to not only learn about the company and our clients but also to create an understanding of what makes a comprehensible case study. During the research, I found the work of Berlin-based digital strategy agency Agentur Gerhard beneficial for finding our voice. After creating the first case studies in the Edtech/E-Learning domain about video2brain, Lynda, and LinkedIn here is what I have taken away so far:
Focus on problem-solving: A case study’s most crucial task is to explain the client’s business challenge and the process of how the vendor solved it for the client. By reading the case study, the reader should be able to navigate quickly and find similarities to their own challenges.
No fairy tale: Case Studies are practical tools for decision makers to find the right vendor to solve their business challenge.
Don’t bullshit me, please! No Gobbledygook! Eye candies alone don’t make for an excellent case study. A case study must convey the approach of problem-solving and describe the path to the goal.
Insights matter: A case study should give comprehensible insights about the knowledge domains, experience, and approach of the vendor. It makes complex product creation processes tangible and helps to build a better understanding of the sometimes diffuse ways of problem-solving. Tell what you actually did!
Make it tangible: Ideally, the case study can explain how it came to specific decisions the client and the vendor took to solve problems.
Drill down to the max: An executive summary or an ‘In a Nutshell’ paragraph adds additional value to the case study. It gives decision-makers a quick and comprehensible overview of the problem and how it was solved.
Use it internally: Case studies are a great way to rebrief, feedback and create new ideas within your own company.
I’m sure I am not quite there and wasn’t considering all of these learnings in the first place. I like to invite you to check our first case studies and appreciate your feedback a lot:
video2brain — An Austrian Edtech company becomes a global player
Lynda.com — Helping to fulfill a ubiquity strategy of everywhere, all the time
