How to write a design case study?

Hey designers!

Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite parts of working on a project - writing a case study alongside it! A strategy that changed my thoughts on selling a service by thinking “proof-first”.

I’ll cover:

• How I assemble a project case study

• How I convert clients using those case studies

• A comic to be taken lightly 😀

How I assemble a project case study

There’s always something interesting brewing on every design project. The client who has been calm for so long suddenly becomes hostile, the too-young-to-get-married team member is off for his honeymoon, or your monthly subscription to Adobe suddenly isn’t renewing.

And you can be dumbstruck at yourself for still delivering on the project flawlessly. But unless you document it, nobody’s going to know your capability of handling chaos.

Thankfully, I’ve built the habit of chronicling that stuff on my iPhone.

I click a lot of photos.

Any project we get, whether a remote one or an onsite one, I make it a point to capture the progress, including the things gone wrong.

Words cannot capture everything, not in a design case study. And the images really complement the technical writing.

👉 So, make it a point to photograph your project progress. Click snaps of your team, of the rough drafts, the clock when it’s 2 am, or your beverages alongside.

Next up is the process of writing the case study.

Here’s a simple formatting guide I follow:

1. An introductory image of the setting

2. A small introduction on what the project was, where was it executed, who were the people involved.

3. Challenges encountered, supported with a lot of images. The challenges must be candid, and most preferably written in first person.

4. An interesting story. The non-design stuff. How were the travel arrangements done, good/bad food, talks with the client, etc.

5. Solution and impact to end the case study. Sweat on being specific here, and mention the impact your work had on the company.

At the end of it all, analyze whether the case study has a painful problem and a good solution. After that is check-listed, edit it to make it more interactive, more impactful, and the most important - less robotic.

Check out how we published our latest case study: https://www.inkppt.com/case-studies/mubadala-employee-forum-2023

How I convert clients using case studies

Roughly 90% of INK PPT’s new website visitors first click on the case studies section followed by the services or the contact us one.

During prospect meetings, I open up my propositions by sharing our case studies first, followed by the services and commercials, which is how it is supposed to be.

I remember the consternation on the young manager's face from Samsung in 2015 when I told him I don’t have any case studies. Luck favored me as he gave me a chance back then but I had to develop social proof to remain in the industry.

👉 Today, case studies are my only sales collateral. 

After developing them as PDFs, my team goes on to repurpose them to PPTs, web pages, and social media posts, leveraging them depending on how we connect with a client.

The flowchart in the client’s mind must look like this:

This person / agency has good skills → they have solved problems for others before → they can do the same for me → I’ll hire them.

Why do clients value case studies?

• It helps them eliminate other vendor choices

• It helps them make a decision faster

• It helps them trust you as an expert

A comic to be taken lightly 😀

Let’s connect?

I’m active these days on Twitter (X). Let’s connect?

And while we talk of X, here is the best recent tweet I saw on design this week:

https://x.com/theChrisDo/status/1729672563897352340?s=20

Share this with someone who might learn from this! 

See you soon,

Have a great day!