3 Keys To Great Case Study Storytelling

Once upon a time, where was a recent bootcamp grad putting together a portfolio so he could get a job and stop eating dollar store ramen. (steady pay-check and benefits are living the dream, am I right?)

The magic mentors told him “tell a story” in your case study — “this is an important skill to help you stand out”.

“But what does this actually mean?” he wondered.

He searched the interwebs far and wide, only to be left with vague advice like “explain the background, process and lessons”.

It all seemed to hold generic advice, that was un-actionable, and if everyone was confused about this, then everyone was taking the same advice.

He looked at other case studies but failed to see how they told a story? Did he not know what a story was?

He began to doubt himself and his abilities to figure it out.

Until one day! He found the answer and decided to right about it in hopes that it will save all new UX grads the headache of having the figure it out themselves.

Make it emotional. This translates into talking about where you failed, how you felt during the challenges and inspire you reader by what you did and how you felt when you came up with a solution.

It can be hard to talk about your failures when it comes to presenting something that you want to help you get a job. But it’s important to note, and is a great way to showcase your ability to continue problem solving despite failure and challenges.

It’s also a really easy way to add some depth to your case study.

Show that you are human. You are designing for humans after all, so don’t forget that you are human too.

This goes back to the first point about highlighting your mistakes, and showcasing how you overcame the obstacles.

This is basic human connection. Hardship and then resolution. No doubt you had many of these during the project, because any UX project that went smoothly probably wasn’t done properly or made for humans.

To translate this into story, be sure to find you own case study voice. If you are the type of person who is straight to the point, then give it to them just as you would in real life.

Your case study assets and visuals are just the sprinkles not the donut.

Even though we might buy a donut because it looks pretty with the sprinkles, we enjoy despite the sprinkles. They are only there to help narrate the story, not tell the story itself.

Without a little context surrounding the beautiful imagery that often comes from the other generic advice, you can do this by adding the why.

Here are some questions I like to ask myself during case study writing:

1. Why did you decide to do that? (was it because your mentor told you? or your "supposed to" because its part of design thinking? you need a better reason)
2. What did you discover that was impactful to moving the project forward doing that thing?
3. What failed? why? and what did you do about it to get past it?

To recap in plainer english:

• Highlight your fails and talk about the how, why, and what of it.
• Indulge your human side, which means your shortcomings and mistakes. This could also include lessons and what you would do differently.
• Don’t rely on your design deliverable to tell the story. Yes people are visual, but first they are emotional. So cater to that.

You are a human, designing for humans - your case studies should reflect that.