Module 4 · The portfolio case study Lesson 10 of 15
Writing the case study
Problem, constraints, what you tried, what you chose and why, what the test showed, what you would do next. Six headings, no marketing language.
The concept
A case study is four sections: the problem in your own words, what you did about it, what changed, and what you would do next. Shown mostly as images with short captions — because nobody reads paragraphs in a design portfolio, they scan the screens and stop when a caption interests them.
Write the problem before any screen, and put the constraint next to it: no budget, two weeks, a 3G phone. Constraints are what make a portfolio piece believable, and "what changed" is what makes it credible — even if the honest answer is "five testers completed the task in half the time and two still got stuck".
1. Problem (your words, plus the constraint: 2 weeks, a 3G phone)
2. What I did (the two decisions that mattered)
3. What changed (5 testers; task time halved; 2 still got stuck)
4. What's next
Mostly images with short captions - a reviewer scans, then reads captions.Common mistakes
The mistake is a gallery of dribbble-style screens with no thinking behind them. A reviewer cannot tell whether you solved anything, and pure-visual portfolios get filtered out of product design roles. One honest case study is worth ten attractive screens.
Worked example
"I chose a single-scroll form because three of five testers abandoned a multi-step one on a phone" is a sentence that gets you hired. "Clean, modern design" is a sentence that does not.
Your practice task
Write your case study under those six headings, keeping it under 800 words.
Do this before moving on. Reading a solution teaches the shape of it; typing it teaches you.
Key takeaway
A case study is four sections: the problem in your own words, what you did about it, what changed, and what you would do next.
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